Piccadilly line (2)

Onkar Sahota: Please update me about the progress made on rolling stock replacement on the Piccadilly line.

The Mayor: The programme remains on target to deliver the first new train to London in summer 2024, when it will commence a programme of integration testing on the Piccadilly line. The first train is scheduled to enter passenger service in 2025.
Assembly of the first new Piccadilly line train underframes and bodyshells took place this year. Siemens has progressed with the procurement and manufacture of the main components of the train, including the bogies, door systems and traction equipment. The first fully assembled train is scheduled for completion by summer 2023 and will then undergo an extensive programme of pre-delivery testing.
Construction of Siemens’ UK train manufacturing facility in Goole, East Yorkshire is nearing completion. The train assembly hall is due to commence production in early 2024. It is planned that 50 per cent of the new Piccadilly line trains will be assembled at the new Goole facility.

N155 Bus Route (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Did any consultation take place over the decision to reduce the frequency of the N155 bus service, and if not, why not?

The Mayor: TfL regularly adjusts bus service frequencies to reflect changing demand levels. The changes to the N155 were made as part of this constant process to ensure service levels best match demand levels. As set out in my answer to Question 2022/2831, demand on the N155 has halved on weekend nights following the reintroduction of Night Tube services on the Northern line.
Transport for London (TfL) did not consult on the frequency change to the N155. This decision was made using demand data. TfL is confident that there continues to be sufficient capacity to meet demand. It would not be practical to undertake public consultations on every timetable change given the number of changes that happen each year. TfL informs customers and stakeholders ahead of any frequency changes through various channels, including emails to customers that have signed up to receive service updates and via the TfL website at https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/bus-changes.

TfL Grass-Cutting (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: What steps will you take to ensure that TfL alerts local authorities in good time of its intention to cut grass along red routes, so that the local authority may arrange access to remove litter that would otherwise be shredded by mowers?

The Mayor: Please refer to my response to Mayors Question 2022/2829.

Transport for London Menopause Policy

Elly Baker: What lessons has Transport for London (TfL) learnt from the Greater London Authority’s menopause policy announced in March 2022 and does TfL have any plans to introduce a similar policy for its employees?

The Mayor: Whilst Transport for London (TfL) does not have a dedicated policy in place, it has recently introduced guidance and support for line managers to raise this issue and outline how to better support those colleagues experiencing the menopause and its symptoms.
The guidance ensures colleagues at TfL experiencing the menopause are entitled to request suitable support and workplace adjustments. This could mean ensuring that the working environment is comfortable wherever possible, for instance with temperature-controlled areas, as well as flexible adjustments to the working day to accommodate the need to take breaks if symptoms become severe, time off to attend medical appointments, or suitable changes to work tasks when experiencing symptoms.
With the operational working environment at TfL providing distinct challenges to the one here at the GLA, this guidance is evolving as further feedback is received from colleagues and representatives.
The Women’s Staff Network Group have also established a ‘Menopause Hub’ where information, videos and other resources are available to colleagues who are either experiencing the menopause or are working alongside a colleague who is. There is now also a training course colleagues can take to further build awareness of the menopause and how they can support those around them experiencing it.

Acoustic Cameras (4)

Elly Baker: What discussions have Transport for London officers had with Metropolitan Police Service officers and local authority enforcement teams about the potential of acoustic cameras to reduce noise on red routes?

The Mayor: Please see my responses to 2022/3192, 2022/3193 and 2022/3194.

Hard stop tactics

Caroline Russell: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said in 2014 that it was wrong not to review its use of the ‘hard stop’ tactic employed in the shooting of Mark Duggan in 2011, despite being advised to do so by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Does the MPS today still use the ‘hard stop’ as a policing tactic?

The Mayor: An enforced stop – or a ‘hard stop’ as it is often referred to by the public - is when a vehicle is brought to a stop by police, without prior warning or by positioning of police vehicles to block a car from moving.
I recognise that the use of such tactics can be concerning to the public. Police officers have a positive duty to protect the public from harm and a duty of care to all involved in any given situation and that may necessitate the use of such tactics in certain circumstances.
Guidance to police officers on using this tactic is included in the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice and officers also take account of the national decision-making model, which assists them in ensuring their actions are reasonable, proportionate, lawful and ethical.

'March of the Mummies’ protest

Caroline Russell: It was reported by The Guardian on 30 September 2022 that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) refused permission for a ‘March of the Mummies’ protest organised by the group Pregnant Then Screwed, to go ahead on 29th October. Later that day, @MetPoliceEvents tweeted a statement saying: “it is not the case that the Met is refusing to police or support this or any other protest, as reported.” What guidance is in place for officers engaging in a proactive approach to MPS communications on social media?

The Mayor: The @MetPoliceEvents is a corporate account managed by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and all corporate social media accounts are managed by the Directorate of Media and Communication (DMC).
When an issue arises, DMC works closely with the operational lead for that issue to provide a response to it. What the issue is, what the response is, where the discussion on the issue is occurring (which social media channel), and who is discussing it, will all shape how something is responded to.
The DMC and lead officer will also work closely with External Relations colleagues to help ensure that wider stakeholder briefing occurs on relevant issues that are subject to social media interest.
The march successfully went ahead on the Saturday 29th October with MPS support.

TfL funding deal transparency and scrutiny (1)

Siân Berry: You have now agreed a funding deal with the Government for Transport for London (TfL) that goes up to 2023-24. Could you outline how transparency and accountability for the new Financial Sustainability Group outlined in paragraph 57 of the deal document, and the new Oversight Group outlined in paragraph 58 will be achieved, and what access to information the public and the London Assembly will have from each of these bodies?

The Mayor: The new Oversight Group meetings will take place quarterly throughout the duration of the current funding settlement with Government and there will be a Financial Sustainability Group meeting held in the autumn. TfL is accountable for providing the necessary reports and dashboards to Government to enable oversight and assurance of progress of the funding settlement conditions.
These forums will enable open and frank discussions with the government and special representatives on a range of matters, that will include sensitive information. Transparency for these forums, progress towards financial sustainability and against the letter conditions of the current funding settlement will be provided through regular reporting updates to the Board, or its Committees and Panels.

TfL funding deal transparency and scrutiny (2)

Siân Berry: You have now agreed a funding deal with the Government for Transport for London (TfL) that goes up to 2023-24. Could you confirm that the quarterly meetings of the Oversight Group outlined in paragraph 58 of the deal document will be held in public and webcast, and that meeting papers and minutes will be published online?

The Mayor: The new Oversight Group meetings will take place quarterly throughout the duration of the current funding settlement and provide a forum to have open and frank discussions with the government and special representatives on a range of matters, that will include sensitive information. Although there are not any current plans to hold the quarterly Oversight Group meetings in public, transparency will be maintained through regular reporting updates to the TfL Board, or its committees and panels.

Savings already made to support the TfL funding deal

Siân Berry: You have now agreed a funding deal with the Government for Transport for London (TfL) that goes up to 2023-24. Under this agreement, TfL said that it has: “had to identify measures which allow us to balance our budget.” Could you outline each of these savings with a brief description of how each will contribute to the £740 million gap TfL has identified?

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) budget, published in March 2022, assumed it would rebuild its cash reserves to £1.4bn. The latest funding settlement includes Government continuing to retain passenger revenue risk for an additional year. Because of this, TfL will maintain a cash reserve of £1.2bn cash, releasing £200m for closing the funding gap.
TfL has released circa £100m of operating contingency as the revenue top-up and inflation mechanisms in this funding settlement reduce risk.
Since the preparation of the 2022/23 TfL Budget, there have been several updates to its position based on latest data and trends, which result in a net improvement of £50m over the two years. This includes improved performance on advertising income mainly driven by the earlier opening of the Elizabeth line; and the reduction in pension contingent payments following the recent tri-annual valuation.
The funding settlement includes inflation protection, capped to £15m in 2022/23. For 2023/24 the latest estimate of the pressure is circa £145m, with no cap in the funding mechanism. This additional funding would be subject to Department for Transport completing a review and a Ministerial decision.
This leaves TfL with £230m of further efficiencies to find. The previous Secretary of State for Transport,Grant Shapps,assumed the gap could be closed through further efficiencies without saying how.TfL assesses this as highly challenging and has to prepare for the eventualitythat it may not be deliverable. That would leave a choice between slashing services to save money quickly or TfL not being able to balance its budget – a legal requirement.
This is why I have established a finance facility of up to £500m to help TfL balance its budget. This new support from the Greater London Authority (GLA) means that, should TfL not be able to fully identify these further efficiencies, finance will be made available to make sure that TfL retains a balanced budget. If TfL does draw on the finance facility future GLA grants to TfL would be reduced.

Excessively hot bus driver conditions

Siân Berry: Bus drivers are reporting unacceptable conditions on Transport for London (TfL) buses due to the recent heatwaves, with temperatures in excess of 40 degrees. What should a driver do when their workplace becomes unreasonably hot?

The Mayor: All bus driver cabs have air conditioning. Each operator is responsible for their maintenance and has their own servicing regime.
When severe hot weather is forecast, Transport for London writes to all bus operators instructing them to check the air-conditioning on all their buses and to flag any issues. Bus operators have a duty of care to their staff and customers, and review their working practices dynamically to ensure they always maintain a safe level of operation. However, if a driver feels unable to continue to drive the bus safely, they should pull over and inform their service controller to develop an appropriate plan to get customers safely to their destination. Pulling over will also enable the driver time for themselves and the cab to cool down.

Bus Diversions

Andrew Boff: How does TfL inform the public of bus diversions?

The Mayor: Diversions is a wide topic – varying from almost immediate emergency short term diversions (e.g. in response a gas leak), through to planned long-term diversions such as those associated with HS2 construction.
Where Transport for London (TfL) has sufficient notice, it posts publicity in bus stops to inform customers of changes to bus routes. This contains information about the start and expected end dates of the diversion, as well as impacted routes. All of this is based on information provided to TfL by the works promoter.
If the diversions are long-term or high impact, targeted notifications are also sent to customers via email, and timetables in TfL’s Journey Planner are actively realigned to reflect the new routeing. Short term diversions which affect most customers on affected routes are often included in TfL’s weekly closures customer emails. For emergency diversions, TfL posts information at the most immediately impacted stops wherever possible. However, by their nature, it is more difficult to communicate these changes.
Real-time disruption information is added to the Status Updates pages on the TfL website, alongside warning messages in Journey Planner.

Cycling in Brent

Krupesh Hirani: What are you doing to improve cycling provision in Brent?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is working in partnership with the London Borough of Brent to help progress key improvements to make cycling safer and more attractive on its roads.
The Borough is committed to making it easier and safer to cycle, and recently agreed to progress development of a key Cycleway between Wembley and Harlesden which has seen high levels of casualties and has a high future demand for cycling as a result of several large developments in the area. TfL hopes to publicly consult the community on proposals for these plans in 2023.
I’m also pleased to report that TfL has allocated funding to the borough to develop local cycle links, cycle training and cycle parking to help encourage cycling across the whole community.

Maintenance at South Kenton Station

Krupesh Hirani: I have received complaints from constituents about the state of South Kenton Tube Station. Will you work with TfL to ensure that basic maintenance and cleansing works are carried out at this station?

The Mayor: The cleaning issues reported have been identified as being due to pigeons. Transport for London (TfL) is planning to rectify the issues, however, due to Health & Safety requirements this work requires Network Rail closures. TfL has requested the closures take place, but the work may not be completed until March 2023. In the meantime, TfL has asked its cleaning contractor to monitor the site.

Cycling in Harrow

Krupesh Hirani: What are you doing to improve cycling provision in Harrow?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has been working in partnership with the London Borough (LB) of Harrow to help progress key improvements to make cycling safer and more attractive on Harrow’s roads.
LB Harrow has funding to progress for two potential Cycleways from Northwick Park to Harrow Weald and from Northwick Park to Harrow on the Hill. I hope that these proposals will be suitably ambitious to unlock cycling within these diverse communities, improving health and tackling our toxic air. I am also pleased to say that TfL has allocated funding to LB Harrow for cycle training helping to encourage cycling across the whole community.

Particulate Matter around the Silvertown Tunnel

Hina Bokhari: If you are confident that the Silvertown Tunnel scheme will “not have a material impact on particulate matter (PM) levels”, as referenced in your answer to 2022/0574, then why won’t you commit to installing further PM2.5 monitoring stations on access roads to the Silvertown Tunnel site both north and south of the river in order to support this claim?

The Mayor: There are existing PM2.5 monitors on the southern and northern approach roads to the Blackwall tunnel, operated either by TfL or the host boroughs. These monitors already monitor the PM2.5 concentrations in the relevant areas and provide an extended historical context for assessing any changes when the tunnel opens. An additional PM2.5 monitor has been placed at Britannia Gate nearest the northern entrance to the Silvertown Tunnel. I remain confident that TfL has comprehensive plans in place to monitor and understand the air quality impacts of the Silvertown Tunnel scheme. Their plans are reasonable and proportionate to the scheme and its assessed effects.
Further information on air quality monitoring can be found in my response to MQ 2021/2241

Supporting Disabled Londoners as the ULEZ expands (1)

Siân Berry: What assessment has been made by Transport for London (TfL) of the total numbers of relevant drivers and the total level of support that Disabled Londoners will need from a scrappage scheme associated with the proposed London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), including any extra costs for adapted vehicles?

The Mayor: In developing plans for the proposed expansion of Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide, Transport for London (TfL) commissioned an Integrated Impact Assessment which included an assessment of potential health and equality impacts. This included workshops with stakeholders, including representatives for disabled Londoners.
As a result of its preliminary findings, TfL included extensions to grace periods in its proposals, during which non-compliant vehicles registered under the disabled or disabled passenger tax class and wheelchair accessible private hire vehicles would be temporarily exempt from the ULEZ charge until October 2027. This would be an extension of two years on top of the existing grace period for these vehicles.
The public consultation on the London-wide ULEZ allows a further opportunity to understand the impacts and potentially make further modifications. TfL is keen to hear views on the scrappage scheme. Should I decide to progress with the proposals following the consultation, I am committed to implementing a large-scale and targeted vehicle scrappage scheme. In response to recent feedback, TfL is already looking at how it can best support those with adapted vehicles.
The number of disabled Londoners I can help with any scrappage scheme depends on available funding. I continue to lobby Government for funding to support a scrappage scheme, especially as other cities bring forward proposals for Clean Air Zones which include Government funding for scrappage.

London-wide ULEZ Expansion

Emma Best: How will people be able to make an informed decision about the London-wide ULEZ expansion when data from 2021’s expansion is not yet available?

The Mayor: The first month report for the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion to inner London was published in December 2021. The report can be found here.
This report highlights compliance rates (92 per cent in the month following expansion), the number of vehicles seen in the zone as well as preliminary traffic analysis. Future reports, starting with the six month report due to be published this Summer, will continue to assess the impacts of the scheme, including on emissions.
TfL has extensive experience of assessing as well as forecasting the impacts of the ULEZ, having published a number of such reports beginning with the original central London scheme. The consultation materials for the proposed London-wide ULEZ expansion provide detailed estimates of the expected impacts of the scheme. More information can be found on the consultation website here.

TfL Grass-Cutting (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: Will you require TfL to share with local authorities and residents their annual schedule for grass-cutting of verges, central reservations and any other areas on red routes, so that local authorities can arrange access to remove litter in advance?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does share its maintenance plans for high-speed roads where full closures are carried out. This allows boroughs to arrange litter picking in advance at locations that are more difficult to access. This engagement is in place with most boroughs.
In locations that are easily accessed, TfL would expect that Environmental Protection Duties are regularly carried out and for grass verges to be generally litter free. TfL contractors are expected to pick up litter before grass cutting where possible. If there are locations where this is not happening, please make TfL aware of these issues and it will contact the borough and their contractors to find a solution. To date, TfL has not been made aware of any concerns.
It would not be practical to provide daily plans of grass cutting due to the flexibility needed by contractors who perform multiple responsibilities for TfL.

Times Series Data on Agency Bus Drivers broken down by Bus Operator

Nick Rogers: Please provide me with annual data since 2015 showing the total number of agency bus drivers working in TfL’s contracted bus operation broken down by bus operator.

The Mayor: Transport for London does not hold annual data on agency bus drivers. Please refer to my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/3510 for more detail.

Tasers (4)

Nick Rogers: Please detail the number of times for each year Sep 15 to Aug 16, Sep 16 to Aug 17, Sep 17 to Aug 18, Sep 18 to Aug 19, Sep 19 to Aug 20, Sep 20 to Aug 21 and Sep 21 to Aug 22 when suspects hit by Met tasers were hospitalised. Please also detail the number of deaths following taser strikes during this period.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) advises me that the instances of Use of Force where one of the outcomes was “hospitalised” has been recorded on the Use of Force recording forms since early 2017.
It is worth noting that there are seven different types of Taser use. The table below indicates the number of times a Taser was fired, used in 3 Points of contact mode, or in direct contact mode by an officer, and where the subject ended up attending hospital. Please note that reporting and recording of use of force is by count of officer using force. Therefore, if 2 officers fired a Taser on one subject, then 2 use of force records will be recorded, as well as 2 ‘results’ from that use of force (i.e., 2 records showing ‘hospitalised’).
In the MPS in the FY 2021-2022 there were 147,372 use of force records. Of these, 5,896 were shown as ‘hospitalised’ and 472 of these involved the use of a Taser. 123 were a firing or direct contact mode use.
The term ‘Hospitalised’ will cover any eventuality where the suspect has attended a hospital, including mental health institutions, for any issues, including those not related to the Taser.
FY
Fired, Angle Drive Stun and Drive Stun & Hospitalised
17-18
86
18-19
142
19-20
134
20-21
175
21-22
123
22- Present
63

TfL Rejected Adverts

Emma Best: The TfL Advertising Annual Report 2021/2022 states that within the year TfL rejected 20 advertisements displaying foods and non-alcoholic drinks that were high in fat, sugar, or salt. Which specific products were these advertisements for?

The Mayor: Adverts are not always rejected because the product featured is considered high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS), the restrictions also require non-HFSS products (contained within Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ calorie and sugar reduction lists) to be pictured in responsible serving sizes, and often with prominent product descriptors, and the restrictions also include generic text references to food/soft drinks. It would be misleading to assign a specific product to the 20 adverts rejected under the HFSS restrictions within the Advertising Policy because the product may not be the reason that the advert was rejected.
Many clients review their advertising and often re-submit an alternative design which will comply with the Advertising Policy.

Breakdown of Tube Driver Union Membership

Nick Rogers: Broken down by Tube line, please detail how many Tube drivers are members of a union, which union and how many are not a member of any union.

The Mayor: Tube drivers are covered by ASLEF and the RMT trade unions. Individual Trade Unions hold the latest information on membership numbers.

ULEZ Expansion (2)

Nick Rogers: Do you recognise that the Londoners on lower incomes who do drive are the Londoners who are most likely to be negatively impacted by an expanded ULEZ?

The Mayor: At present, air pollution hits the poorest communities and Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities the hardest. Nearly half of London households do not own a car but are disproportionately feeling the damaging health consequences that polluting vehicles cause. Analysis of the proposal for a London-wide ULEZ highlights that almost all people living in the most deprived areas (around 1.5 million) would benefit from improved air quality overall if the scheme were implemented.
TfL commissioned an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) to understand the likely significant impacts of the proposal, which included an Equalities Impact Assessment.
The IIA recognises that there may be a short to medium term negative impact for people on low incomes who travel by non-compliant private vehicle in outer London to access employment or opportunities. To help mitigate this, I am considering a scrappage scheme, which could be targeted to help small businesses, charities, disabled Londoners and Londoners on lower incomes.
Some drivers and vehicles may also qualify for a discount, exemption or reimbursement under the current inner London ULEZ which would continue to apply in a London-wide scheme. TfL is also proposing to extend the grace periods for community minibuses, disabled and disabled passenger tax class vehicles by two years.

Breakdown of LUL Electrical Control Room Staff Union Membership

Nick Rogers: Please provide a breakdown on how many LUL Electrical Control Room Staff are members of a union, which union and how many are not a member of any union.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) staff within Power Control are covered by ASLEF, RMT, TSSA and UNITE trade unions. Individual Trade Unions hold the latest information on membership numbers.

MOPAC Staff

Susan Hall: Please can you provide a breakdown of the number of MOPAC staff and cost for each year since 2016?

The Mayor: 31 March 20/21/22
Staff (employees) in post
Costs 1 April to 31 March
2019/20
156
£11,727,001
2020/21
158
£13,224,683
2021/22
185
£14,656,289
The increase in staff numbers reflects the additional responsibilities and funding that MOPAC are now accountable for including the Violent Reduction Unit, Domestic Abuse Safer Accommodation and Operation Soteria.

TfL-UCL Joint Study to ‘understand thermal comfort on buses'

Keith Prince: It is my understanding that TfL and UCL are working in ‘partnership’ to conduct a joint study ‘to understand the thermal comfort on buses in a controlled climatic test chamber with a number of passengers on board’. Please provide me with all background correspondence, terms of reference and documentation associated with this study as well as all drafts and a final version of this report.

The Mayor: The research project with University College London (UCL) is an innovation-led piece of research, which builds on an existing European study and was first tabled in 2018. This allowed the research team to develop its approach iteratively based on emerging findings and through continual dialogue with Transport for London (TfL). Consequently, the definition of the scope and outcomes has been refined in meetings over a long period of time. The attached email provides an illustration of the scope of the research discussed.
A full report on the findings of the study is not yet available. UCL is still working on the report and will publish it when ready, following an academic peer review.
Working collaboratively with the UCL team, TfL has used initial findings from the study to update the passenger saloon performance requirements in its bus Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) specification which would require units to be able to reduce the ambient temperature in the passenger saloon more effectively. TfL is working with manufacturers to introduce this as soon as possible.

The Mayor: 3475 - UCL Climate Chamber Proposal.pdf

Housing for women leaving the criminal justice system (3)

Siân Berry: In your response to the Assembly motion, Safer Homes for Women Leaving Prison, you said that: “together with Blueprint Delivery partners, [we] are lobbying the MoJ to obtain reliable data on the extent to which electronic monitoring is used for women in London, both on bail, remand and post sentence, as alternatives to prison.” Could you share copies of your correspondence with the Ministry of Justice with me as well as any response received?

The Mayor: My officers continue to engage regularly with the Electronic Monitoring team at the MoJ on obtaining data on the use of EM in London, including volumes by offence type, sentence, outcomes and gender. The primary challenge in terms of obtaining the data that you refer to is that there is no current MoJ data set for where a tagged person resides or is currently supervised. In the past records have been created predominantly in relation to the court where the person has been sentenced or bailed or the prison that they have been released from. This does not provide a comprehensive and reliable picture of monitored individuals in London. These recording and data issues were recognised in the HMIP Inspection Report on national Electronic Monitoring published earlier this year. My officers will continue to work with the MoJ to obtain better quality data in this regard.

Thin blue line badge

Caroline Russell: The uniform and dress code policy of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) states that the MPS don't wear badges advertising causes, beliefs, or charities, except in a few circumstances such as the Police Memorial Day badge, the red poppy of The Royal British Legion, and the Help for Heroes badge and wrist band. Despite this, I still regularly see officers walking around with the ‘thin blue line’ badges. Are these badges considered acceptable under the MPS uniform and dress code policy and if not, what steps are the MPS taking to ensure that these badges are not worn by officers on duty?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Uniform & Appearance Board is reviewing the wearing of this badge to ensure the MPS approach remains consistent with other forces nationally.
The ‘Thin Blue Line’ imagery is commonly accepted as demonstrating camaraderie among the police family and in support for a number of police charities including those supporting the survivors of officers killed in the line of duty.
It is not representative of a specific cause, belief or charity; rather a general commonality among police officers, police staff, police community support officers, special constables and the wider policing family. Images overlaid with the ‘Thin Blue Line’ are typically posted online following the death of a police officer as a mark of remembrance and respect. Subtle wearing of this imagery, e.g. a Velcro patch or pin badge is not prohibited by the current MPS dress code.

Disorder following Operation Vespa in Hackney (4)

Caroline Russell: In a Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) update on 16 May 2022 following Operation Vespa on Ashwin Street and Kingsland High Street on 14 May 2022, the MPS said: “The operation was to target e-scooters and moped enabled crime following concerns of anti-social behaviour reported by the local community.” In your answer to my question 2022/1848 you said: “it is not possible to provide information for anti-social behaviour (ASB) at street level, nor specifically in relation to moped riders.” Could you provide the anti-social behaviour (ASB) reports for Hackney, broken down by: a) ward, and b) month from January 2020 to present, categorised by the 13 main ASB types as detailed on the MPS website? Could you also state under which ASB type the ASB reports from the local community that triggered Operation Vespa were categorised?

The Mayor: Please see attached the requested information for anti-social behaviour (ASB) reports for Hackney by category, ward, and month from January 2020 to August 2022. The supplied notes page should be read in conjunction with the data to aid in interpretation.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) advises me that both the BCU and council received a large number of complaints from residents on Ashwin Street. Given the various routes through which information was communicated, it is not possible to link all those reports to Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) records. The primary issues highlighted were that many moped riders were making a lot of noise late into the night around Ashwin Street, leaving litter and riding their mopeds in a dangerous manner.

The Mayor: 2908_Disorder following Operation Vespa in Hackney (4) (1).xlsx

Protecting Historic Buildings

Hina Bokhari: Will you put in place legal protections for the social and cultural integrity, including the use, of historic buildings, to sit alongside existing protections for their structural integrity and appearance?

The Mayor: While I do not have powers to introduce new legal provisions in this regard, I believe that every Londoner should feel that the capital’s diverse heritage belongs to them. That is why I will continue to use the powers at my disposal to ensure that the capital’s heritage is protected –in all its varied forms - for all current and future Londoners to enjoy.
My London Plan includes a range of policies which ensure that social and cultural infrastructure as well as heritage assets are afforded protections in the planning system, and my cultural strategy includes provisions aimed to help nurture places and spaces that have local character and significance.
I will also continue to work closely with key partners such as Historic England to support applications for listing and funding, including for spaces and places that are significant for their social and cultural value. Whilst it is not possible to necessitate a certain land use, I will make use of these existing legal powers to protect spaces that are valued for the activities that they facilitate, not just for their appearance. In addition, my Culture and Creative Industry Unit works closely with Historic England and the Heritage Lottery Fund to protect heritage across London including work with my Culture and Community Spaces at Risk Office to secure at-risk heritage assets.

Ultra Low Emissions Zone Expansion Consultation Outcome

Elly Baker: When do you expect the outcome of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone Expansion Consultation to be published?

The Mayor: The London-wide ULEZ proposals were the subject of ten week public and stakeholder consultation. A Consultation Report analysing the responses received, and other relevant issues, is currently being prepared by Transport for London. That Report will form an appendix to the Mayoral Decision (MD) form by which I will make my decision, and will include all the relevant information I need. I expect the MD, Consultation Report and other relevant documents to be ready for my consideration before the end of the year.

Child Strip Searches Undertaken by the Met (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: What work are you undertaking with the Met’s leadership to ensure all child strip search cases which raise concerns are referred to the IOPC and how will you be ensuring lessons are learnt as quickly as possible?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have agreed that as of 1st April this year to review every More Thorough Intimate Part search and check every single strip search of a child in custody. This is to ensure they are carried out properly, in line with current policy and that children are safeguarded. In line with the IOPC Statutory Guidance, as necessary, cases will be referred to the IOPC.
Furthermore, my Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has written to HMICFRS raising concerns about the use of strip searches. HMICFRS have confirmed that they are working closely with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following the recent strip search cases that have come to light and will then reflect on any changes that may be needed to their inspection methodology.
I have continued to push the MPS to publish transparent data on strip searching to allow greater public scrutiny of this area of police practice and the MPS have now produced additional information dashboards that can be accessed online (Stops and Search - More Thorough Searches Dashboard | Tableau Public).
I, and my Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, will continue to hold the MPS to account for delivering these changes and implementing any recommendations from the IOPC and HMICFRS.

Responses to the Toilet Paper recommendations (2)

Caroline Russell: As recommended in the November 2021 report, the Toilet Paper, from the London Assembly Health Committee, will you lobby alongside London Councils for the provision of public toilets to become a statutory duty for local councils, alongside ring-fenced funding to achieve this?

The Mayor: Please refer to the response to MQ2022/2901.

Responses to the Toilet Paper recommendations (1)

Caroline Russell: In your response to the November 2021 report, the Toilet Paper from the London Assembly Health Committee, you told me your officers would raise the issue of each borough producing a toilet strategy based on population and need with London Councils. What work has progressed from these meetings and discussions?

The Mayor: Officers made an informal approach to London Councils regarding the recommendations of the Health Committee’s Toilet Paper report and there is currently no existing cross-party policy on public toilet provision upon which to base this action.
I have continued to invest in public toilets provision as part of wider regeneration programmes and have sought to secure their provision via the planning powers at my disposal. This has included the delivery of new public toilets as part of the Good Growth Programme, and application of the London Plan 2021 Policy S6 Public Toilets, which requires the provision and management of freely-available public toilets within large-scale developments.
Officers continue to support work to explore challenges and opportunities relating to public toilet access across London; A survey on Talk London is currently underway to understand Londoners’ views on public toilets. This is being delivered as part of Designing London’s Recovery, an open innovation programme, supporting the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art to create a sustainable model of public toilet provision on the high street.
I look forward to the outputs of the upcoming roundtable event being hosted by Amy Lamé with toilet campaigners and charities, to inform how we can support continued improvements in public toilet accessibility across London.

Vision Zero: Actions taken by TfL after Pedestrian killed on 10 November 2018 in Sutton by a Route X26 Bus Operated by Go Ahead

Keith Prince: In the "Fatal Accident Investigations” information published on TfL’s website, TfL’s write-up of this incident notes “it was also evident at the time that the lighting at the site was affected by overhanging trees from the local school. The school immediately agreed to cut them back to fully reveal the lamp standards to improve lighting at the junction. TfL to identify if any changes can be made to improving the junction. A project manager has been assigned” and "The Coroner highlighted the lack of pedestrian crossing facilities and poor lighting levels present, but didn't issue a prevention of future death reports."

If any action was taken, please provide documentary evidence (a) of any changes TfL’s project manager identified and implemented at this junction and (b) that TfL has investigated whether similar dangers exist across London’s bus network which should be rectified.

The Mayor: As you note, the overhanging trees were cut back following the collision. Transport for London (TfL) also commissioned a lighting assessment, which recommended installing an additional lighting column and relocating some of the existing columns, as well as surveys to better understand pedestrian and traffic movement in the area. We will look to bring forward the lighting improvements ahead of a wider Kingston – Croydon corridor scheme, which will review opportunities for bus priority, pedestrian facilities and safety improvements. Ongoing monitoring of collisions on the bus and road networks helps TfL plan investment in Healthy Streets schemes across London, contributing to road danger reduction. There have been two recorded collisions at this junction in the past three years, neither of which involved pedestrians.

Hit and run casualties and prosecutions 2021

Caroline Russell: Could you provide the most recent figures for numbers of casualties relating to hit and runs in London in 2021, broken down by: a) road user mode of both parties, b) severity type by CRASH/COPA categories: Fatal, Very Serious, Moderately Serious, Less Serious, and Slight, c) borough, and d) whether there was a prosecution?

The Mayor: Department for Transport STATS19 guidance on the collection of personal injury collision information requires only three levels of severity to be recorded, Fatal, Serious and Slight. There is no additional breakdown within the Serious category.
Transport for London (TfL) has been notified of 7,708 people being injured in a collision that involved a vehicle failing to stop at the scene (12 fatal, 761 serious, 6,935 slight); full details can be found in the attached table, ‘Greater London area casualties from collisions involving a Hit & Run vehicle 2021’, which also provides the breakdown by borough.
Also attached is a second table showing details of the 7,197 vehicles coded as hit and run in 2021 by borough. One collision may involve multiple vehicles failing to stop. It is not possible to combine this with those being injured in one table. Please see the attached table ‘Greater London area vehicles recorded as Hit & Run in personal injury collisions 2021’.

The Mayor: 2906 Casualties from collisions recorded as involving a Hit & Run Vehicle GLA Area 2021 provisional .xlsx


  2906 Count of vehicles recorded as Hit & Run involved in personal injury collisions 2021 provisional .xlsx


  2906_Hit and run prosecutions 2021_part (d).xlsx

Young People’s Action Group knife image research

Caroline Russell: In January 2022 it was announced that the Young People’s Action Group working with London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) had commissioned research to better understand the impact on young Londoners of images seized by police that are published on social media. Could you update me on the progress of this research and when it will be publicly available?

The Mayor: My Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) commissioned research, on behalf of its Young People’s Action Group (YPAG), to better understand the impact on young Londoners of images seized by police that are published on social media.
Research – led by University College London – is looking into the effect that images of knives have on young people’s perceptions of safety.
To accompany this research, which is nearing completion, the YPAG is carrying out peer research to further add to and inform the debate on the impact of knife imagery. It is expected these pieces of research will be published later this year.

Strip search appropriate adults

Caroline Russell: Could you provide data about whether an appropriate adult was present during each strip search or More Thorough Searches with Intimate Parts Exposed (MTIP) search of a child that took place in the years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021?

The Mayor: In response to my calls for greater transparency, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has recently published a data dashboard on More Thorough Searches with Intimate Parts Exposed – which includes if an appropriate adult was present.
Given the important role of Appropriate Adults (AAs) in ensuring that detained children and adults at risk understand what is happening to them and why, the MPS has expanded the policy on the use of AAs, including the need for more through searches of children to be authorised by an inspector and increased management supervision and auditing of custody records to ensure strip searches and the relevant authorisations are fully captured.
The data on which this is based is also available to download separately from the London Data Store. The information spans the period January 2019 to the most recently available data (August 2022 at time of writing).

Covid-19 Risk Assessments of Dial-A-Ride Drivers

Keith Prince: In your response to question 2022/1630 you state “Dial-a-Ride drivers are employed directly by Transport for London (TfL). Dial-a-Ride drivers and the bus drivers employed by TfL operators were combined as they undertook a similar role”. Please provide me with copies of TfL’s Covid-19 risk assessments of its Dial-A-Ride drivers.

The Mayor: A number of Covid related risk assessments were produced to ensure the safe operation of Dial-a-Ride services during the pandemic. These cover the continued running of the much-valued service to passengers and where Dial-a-Ride transport was utilised to assist with transporting food and medical packages to clinically extremely vulnerable Londoners.
Copies of these Covid risk assessments are attached, as well as the current version.

The Mayor: STRA0536 (March 2020) Food parcel delivery - Redacted.pdf


  STRA0539 DaR (9 April 2020) v2_Redacted.pdf


  STRA0539 DaR covid 19 updated RA following removal of measures_Redacted.pdf


  STRA0540 (April 2020) Ill persons - Redacted.pdf


  STRA0552 (Aug - Oct 2021) v3_Redacted.pdf


  STRA0553 DAR COVID-19 risk assessment (May 2020) - Redacted.pdf

Met calls 4

Tony Devenish: What are you doing to increase the speed that 101 and 999 calls are answered?

The Mayor: HMICFRS’s PEEL Assessment released earlier this year identified that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does not have sufficient capacity to answer both emergency and non-emergency calls. This is something that the MOPAC had already identified as being an area of concern and have been monitoring as part of their quarterly performance reviews, and through both Oversight Board and conversations with senior MPS officers.
Handling calls effectively, efficiently and professionally is a key part of improving public trust and confidence in the MPS. To aid this, I have invested £5 million to increase the capacity of the MPS Contact Centre (MetCC). In addition, an improvement programme is underway to address people, data and technology challenges in order to meet the call demands. Making Londoners more aware of digital contact channels, as well as addressing misuse of the telephone services are a priority for MetCC. Technical solutions to help automate some processes and address contributors to the demand facing MetCC are being actively progressed, with learning being taken from the wider industry.
There is also an active recruitment process to encourage constables to work within the command, to further increase the Met’s capacity. This is further complemented by the training academy to support continuous learning and development.
I am confident that the measures outlined above will yield improvements to the call handling service, which we will continue to monitor closely.

Tube Ticket Costs

Elly Baker: Please provide the data behind “Figure 15: Trend in real terms Underground ticket costs (indexed by RPI)” that is found in the TfL publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes”. Please also provide data for subsequent years up to the present day.

The Mayor: Data used for Figure 15 from the 2014 Transport for London (TfL) publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes” and for subsequent years is set out in Table 1 attached.

The Mayor: 3661 Tube ticket costs attachment.xlsx

Bus Ticket Costs

Elly Baker: Please provide the data behind “Figure 14: Trend in real terms bus ticket costs (indexed by RPI)” that is found in the TfL publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes”. Please also provide data for subsequent years up to the present day.

The Mayor: Data used for Figure 14 from the 2014 Transport for London (TfL) publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes” and subsequent years is set out in Table 1 attached.

The Mayor: 3660 Bus Ticket Costs attachment.xlsx

Income and Travel behaviour (1)

Elly Baker: Please provide the data behind figures 20-23 that are found in the TfL publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes”. Please also provide the latest data for those figures so we can see what the current situation is.

The Mayor: Data used for Figures 20 to 23 from the 2014 Transport for London (TfL) publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes” is set out in the tables in the attachment. The latest pre-Covid data for each table is also presented as a separate table. Please note that due to a change in the survey methodology the data collected in 2020/21 and 2021/22 is not wholly comparable with previous data so the latest pre-Covid comparison is most appropriate.

The Mayor: 3663 Income and Travel behaviour (1) attachment.xlsx

Rail Ticket Costs

Elly Baker: Please provide the data behind “Figure 16: Rail fares index in real terms, London & South East region” that is found in the TfL publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes”. Please also provide data for subsequent years up to the present day.

The Mayor: Data used for Figure 16 from the 2014 Transport for London (TfL) publication “Drivers of Demand for Travel in London: A review of travel trends and their causes” is set out in Table 1 attached. The data for subsequent years is available on the Office of Rail and Road data portal, here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/finance/rail-fares/table-7182-average-change-in-fares-by-ticket-type/

The Mayor: 3662 Rail Ticket Costs attachment.xlsx

TfL Station

Len Duvall: What is the total cost of hiring a TfL station worker?

The Mayor: The recruitment cost of hiring a Customer Service Assistant, Customer Service Supervisor or Customer Service Manager to work on Transport for London Underground stations is £575 per individual. This does not include training or onboarding costs, which vary depending on role and prior experience.

Violence Against Women and Girls

Unmesh Desai: How do you and MOPAC intend to measure the effectiveness of the new VAWG strategy and what will the key indicators of success be?

The Mayor: My refreshed VAWG Strategy sets out four key priority areas for action: preventing and reducing VAWG; supporting all victims and survivors; holding perpetrators to account and building trust and confidence. The outcomes framework sets out the changes we want to see and MOPAC will monitor delivery of the Strategy by tracking a core set of measures. Where appropriate these align to the measures set out in the Police and Crime Plan (PCP) and include a mix of quantitative and qualitative indicators.
The Outcomes Framework Technical Note, and accompanying Data Definitions can be found here, listed under supporting documents.

Transport Infrastructure (2)

Nick Rogers: Are there any infrastructure projects that you had previously backed, that you no longer believe are viable or worthwhile?

The Mayor: There are no infrastructure projects that have been ruled out as no longer viable or worthwhile. This is partly due to uncertainty over the future growth and shape of demand for London's transport network in the long run. However, it is clear that in the medium-term demand will be lower than was expected prior to the pandemic, and that affordability will continue to be constrained.
Transport for London (TfL) has been clear in its recent Budgets that Crossrail 2 and the Bakerloo line extension remain important for the long-term growth of London, but these are not expected to be delivered until the 2030s at the earliest. TfL does not expect significant development of these schemes to take place within the next two years, but it will continue to work with Government and local stakeholders to keep the schemes safeguarded to enable future development, as well as explore where advance works could be carried out as part of wider developments along the line.

Transport Infrastructure (3)

Nick Rogers: Are there any infrastructure projects for which you believe the case has been strengthened by the changes to transport usage patterns after the pandemic?

The Mayor: Irrespective of transport usage patterns, Transport for London (TfL) must invest in its assets and make the network welcoming for passengers to continue to return.
It is also clear that the case for infrastructure investment in supporting environmental outcomes, including decarbonisation, air quality and adaptation, remains strong. The impact of these schemes is unaffected by lower levels of demand post-pandemic and in many cases is strengthened by recent wider changes such as energy price rises.

Powering the Tube with Renewable Energy (1)

Nick Rogers: On 27th June a press release entitled ‘Mayor confirms first steps towards powering Tube with renewable energy’ quoted you as follows: “This first step to powering the Tube network and TfL’s wider operations with 100 percent renewable source electricity is another crucial part of reducing carbon emissions and building a better, greener London for everyone.”
Can you confirm that with this plan you are promising Londoners that the Tube will be entirely powered by renewable energy by 2030?

The Mayor: Transport for London has a strategy to procure 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. Please see my response to MQs 2022/3181 and 2022/3182 for related answers.

Powering the Tube with Renewable Energy (2)

Nick Rogers: Why did you decide to utilise a Power Purchasing Agreement (PPA) as part of your plan for the Tube to be entirely powered by renewable energy by 2030?

The Mayor: When sourcing electricity from the UK grid, Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) provide the strongest link between procurement and the building of new renewable assets, often termed as ‘additionality’. By using PPAs, Transport for London (TfL) is able to guarantee that by signing a contract with a renewables generator there will be a net increase in the volume of renewable energy provided to the UK grid. This provides greater clarity of carbon reduction than other methods of renewables purchasing, but PPAs also offer other advantages (please see my response to MQ 2022/2889 for more information).

Silvertown Ventilation

Hina Bokhari: Current plans for the Silvertown tunnel will see fumes exit the Silvertown tunnel at both portals north and south of the Thames, rather than having ventilation stacks spaced across the length of the tunnel, as is the case with the Blackwall tunnel. What assessment has been undertaken to the potentially severe health impact of polluted air entering the atmosphere in close proximity to residential areas at either end of the tunnel?

The Mayor: As part of their application for a Development Consent Order (DCO), Transport for London (TfL) undertook comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the Silvertown Tunnel scheme. This included various assessments of health and air quality impacts. Each of these assessments, which are available through the TfL and Planning Inspectorate websites, concluded the scheme would have an overall beneficial impact on air quality. TfL has also committed to updating its assessment work prior to the scheme opening and to monitor air quality once the scheme is in operation to ensure these outcomes are delivered. This will also take into account development that has come forward since the time of the DCO.
The assessment work reflects TfL’s plans for the scheme, which do not include ventilation stacks. Instead, the air within the tunnels will be controlled by the ventilation system and exit at the tunnel portals. This is not uncommon in road tunnels and given the results of TfL’s air quality assessment, the construction of ventilation stacks would offer limited benefit in air quality terms. Furthermore, the provision of ventilation stacks would come with considerable negative impacts through their construction and operation and would introduce significant new structures on the skyline. Finally, it should be noted that since TfL’s original assessment, schemes such as the expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone, have further reduced emissions from traffic.

Noise Reduction between Wembley Park and Kingsbury (2)

Krupesh Hirani: What are the barriers to rolling out the night tube speed reductions between Wembley Park and Kingsbury to other times of the day?

The Mayor: The frequency of Night Tube trains is lower than the frequency during the day. As a result, the adjustment in speed can be absorbed with minimal impact on service. This is not achievable during day traffic hours due to the higher frequency of trains during the day. Implementing speed restrictions during the day would negatively impact the number of trains per hour Transport for London could run, which would severely impact Jubilee line customers.

Biodiversity on the North Circular Road in Brent

Krupesh Hirani: Parts of the North Circular Road running through Brent, particularly around the Neasden area, are amongst the worst polluted locations in the UK. What are you doing to improve biodiversity around the North Circular Road in Brent and reduce pollution?

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) strategic approach to protecting, connecting and enhancing biodiversity is set out in its Corporate Environment Plan. TfL is currently ahead of the 1% year-on-year street tree planting target set in my Transport Strategy. MQ 2022/2891 provides the latest figures by borough. Following successful wildflower verge trials, a potential site in Brent on the A406 is currently under review as part of circa 30 planting sites for summer 2023.
TfL is taking action to reduce air pollution across all of London, as set out in my Transport Strategy. In 2019, I launched the world’s first 24-hour Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in Central London and expanded this to the North and South Circular Roads in 2021. Harmful NO2 concentrations alongside roads in inner London are estimated to be 20 per cent lower than they would have been without the ULEZ and its expansion.

Sensible Cuts (1)

Nick Rogers: Do you agree that it would be better to end nominee passes than cut TfL services?

The Mayor: Staff nominee passes are a long-standing benefit for Transport for London (TfL) employees and are a low-cost way of attracting and retaining staff. They have a very low-cost impact because the number of journeys is an extremely small proportion of the total number of journeys made every day, meaning very little lost income and no additional services needing to be operated.

The Mayor: The recruitment process to find a new permanent Commissioner for Transport for London (TfL) will commence shortly as we begin a global search for suitable candidates.
The Commissioner is accountable for leading the planning and delivery of transport services for London, delivering the Mayor's Transport Strategy, contributing to London's economic growth post pandemic, creating jobs and improving the quality of life for everyone who lives, works and travels in London. As you would expect, as part of the recruitment process we will be reviewing the job specification and other relevant details to ensure they are up to date cognisant of the current and future challenges and opportunities facing TfL and the capital.
In the interim the role will be covered by Andy Lord who is TfL’s current Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Commissioner. Andy brings with him a wealth of experience and commitment to leading our city’s public transport network. His first priorities in his new role will be delivering a new TfL business plan, opening the final stages of the Elizabeth line and leading TfL towards financial sustainability by April 2023.

TfL Pensions Reform (1)

Nick Rogers: The 30th August TfL Settlement Letter states with regard to pensions, “By the 30 September 2022, TfL will submit two categories of options for future service reform with no more than two sub-options under each, all of which will aim to reduce future service liabilities by circa £100m.” In the interests of transparency, will you publish in full the options TfL submitted?

The Mayor: Following the death of Her Majesty the Queen, the deadline for Transport for London (TfL) to submit the 30 September deliverable was extended by the Department for Transport to 14 October.
TfL published the deliverable in full on the TfL website following it being sent to the Government on 14 October.

TfL Pensions Reform (2)

Nick Rogers: Given that Brendan Barber’s Independent Pensions Review found scope to save £182.4 million per year by reforming TfL pensions, have you ruled out seeking to save more than £100 million via TfL pensions reform?

The Mayor: Sir Brendan Barber’s Final Report costed a variety of options related to the provision of future service benefits, some of which were more extreme examples of reform designed to illustrate both the impacts on cost savings, but also on other factors such as fairness and the impact on member benefits. The Final Report was clear these were not proposals for reform and that further consideration by Transport for London (TfL) would need to take into account a careful balance of complex factors such as affordability, sustainability, fairness and adequacy.
The Final Report demonstrates, and TfL agrees, that a savings target of £100 million per annum for future service against TfL’s current level of pensions costs is currently estimated to result in an average of a 30 per cent reduction in benefits going forwards. However, these impacts on future benefits would not be felt equally and could be much higher for those with less accrued past service, typically younger members and new or recent joiners, and, conversely, much lower for those closer to retirement.
The benefits offered to members that would amount from a future service costs reduction of £100 million per annum are estimated to be lower than in comparable public sector organisations.
The Commissioner has ruled out such a reduction as wholly unacceptable.

London Public Transport disruption due to Extinction Rebellion Activities

Susan Hall: How many times has London public transport been disrupted by Extinction Rebellion activities?
Please provide a breakdown of hours disruption lasted and instances of disruption.

Please also detail exclusions from the data (if any).

The Mayor: Between 30 August 2018 and 20 August 2022 there were 149 incidents recorded within Transport for London’s Traffic Information Management System (TIMS) impacted by Extinction Rebellion demonstrations.
The data includes all road incidents and events that have recorded some impact of Extinction Rebellion, so the total includes all incidents affected by the demonstrations, even where Extinction Rebellion is not nominated as the reason the incident was raised (for these incidents it is possible that some level of disruption would have occurred anyway).
The 149 road incidents accounted for 25,074 hours of minimal disruption, 2,639 hours of moderate disruption and a total of 194 hours of serious and severe congestion (164 severe and 30 serious) on London’s road network.
Docklands Light Railway recorded three separate incidents in 2019, accounting for 155 trains being cancelled and 122 trains delayed.
London Underground recorded five separate incidents in 2019 accounting for 46 minutes of delay.
The details of the incidents are attached as separate spreadsheets.

The Mayor: 3117 ATTACHMENT 1 supplementary data - Record of  Extinction Rebellion events in TIMS - Extracted 07_09_2022 .xlsx


  3117 ATTACHMENT 2 supplementary data - DLR extract.xlsx

TfL Pensions Reform (3)

Nick Rogers: Even if, in an ideal world, you would prefer not to reform TfL pensions, do you recognise that failing to do so and instead saving money by cutting bus routes would be unacceptable?

The Mayor: It is overwhelmingly clear from Sir Brendan Barber’s Final Report that the anomalous private sector nature of the Transport for London (TfL) Pension Scheme means it is carrying unnecessary cost and risk. If the TfL Pension Scheme were correctly recognised as a public sector scheme the funding position would improve dramatically and it would remove the requirement for TfL to pay annual levies to the Pensions Regulator. This is an issue TfL reviews in more detail in its most recent submission to Government on 14 October, which assesses options for future service reform.
However, any reform of future service is expected to exacerbate the risks the TfL Pension Scheme faces and result in the crystallisation of significant past service deficits. It is simply not possible for TfL to address these risks on its own. Therefore, TfL cannot practically progress any reform of future service without a clear indication from the Government that it will concurrently work with, and support, TfL with the management of past service liabilities.
It is also important to recognise that any savings from any potential pensions reform would take time to deliver. Reforms that have taken place elsewhere in the public sector have taken years to implement. Therefore, pensions reform is not an alternative to reducing TfL’s costs in the short- to medium-term. TfL will need to continue to deliver further efficiencies, but my provision of a £500m financing facility to TfL has enabled it to maintain a balanced budget while avoiding the need to make unnecessary widescale cuts to bus and tube services as would have been the case under a ‘managed decline’ scenario.

Mobile phones (6)

Susan Hall: What is the standard cost of a TfL mobile phone handset and the contract?

The Mayor: The cost of a standard mobile phone handset issued by Transport for London for eligible staff was £379.59 in September 2022. This covers the cost of the handset, phone case, charger and screen protector. The cost of a sim only contract is £10.08 per month per device.

University of Surrey Review of Fatigue Risk Assessment Tools

Keith Prince: In your response to Question 2022/2973, you mentioned “TfL has commissioned the University of Surrey to undertake a review of fatigue risk assessment tools.” Please provide me with the complete terms of reference and all internal communications (memorandums, emails, notes) related to the initiation and conduct of this ‘review’.

The Mayor: Your request for all documentation related to the Fatigue Risk Assessment Tool project would require an extensive level of searching to be carried out by Transport for London (TfL). You will be aware that TfL resources are extremely limited and so searching for and then providing any such documents would not be an appropriate use of public resources.
If you were able to clarify the request in a way which would narrow its scope, then I will ask TfL to assess whether that enables them to deploy an appropriate amount of resource.
In the meantime, TfL can provide the original Request for Quote that was sent out to potential suppliers for this project.

The Mayor: 3467 RFQ - Fatigue Risk Assessment Tool Phase 1 Final_redacted_Redacted.pdf

Vision Zero: Bus Company Disciplinary Procedures resulting from Safety Incidents that could cause (or have caused) Death or Serious Injury

Keith Prince: Following up on your response to Question 2022/2975, how would TfL publishing annual data showing ‘High Level’ outcomes of disciplinary hearings involving bus drivers involved in safety incidents that could cause (or have caused) death or serious injury “undermine the trust and safety culture that TfL is working hard to build across the bus operating companies.”?
Given the stated goals of your Vision Zero Programme, why wouldn’t any bus operator that objected to such transparency and evidence of a safety culture be disqualified from participating in TfL route tenders?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) works with the bus operators to investigate serious incidents to identify learning and prevent reoccurrence, rather than to apportion blame. Any separate disciplinary process is led by the operator for its employee, with each incident being treated on its own specific circumstances.
TfL seeks, in conjunction with its operators, to have an open and fair safety culture which allows bus drivers and other staff to speak freely and openly about any incidents. Sharing disciplinary hearing outcomes outside of the investigation could potentially hinder the prospect of an open and fair safety culture.

Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses – Bus Operators

Keith Prince: By bus operator and bus garage, please identify both the number of buses investigated for working air condition and the number of buses investigated which failed the checks, with the bus model and manufacturer identified

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor's Question 2022/3463

Logistics UK 2021 Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses

Keith Prince: Despite your failure to answer Question 2022/2993, I have seen an email from TfL’s Bus Director which states “In November 2021, TfL conducted a review of the air conditioning units of approximately 10% of the bus fleet – over 850 buses. These inspections checked for air output and the condition of the pump/drive belts. 85% of vehicles passed the checks and where faults were identified they were reported to the relevant operators for rectification.”

Please provide me with the complete Terms of Reference and all internal communications (memorandums, emails, notes) related to the initiation and conduct of this investigation, as well as the final report.

The Mayor: Last year, Logistics UK conducted a review on behalf of Transport for London (TfL) into the air conditioning units of approximately 10 per cent of the TfL bus fleet, which equates to over 850 buses. A copy of the email confirming the scope of the review is attached.
These inspections checked for air output and the condition of the pump/drive belts.Of the buses checked, 85 per cent of vehicles passed and, where faults were identified, they were reported to the relevant operators for rectification. The table below shows the outcome of the review.
Percentage of AC Faults Vs Buses Checked by Operator
Operator
Buses Checked
With AC Faults
Percentage Rate
Operator A
82
12
15%
Operator B
70
3
4%
Operator C
12
4
33%
Operator D
17
6
35%
Operator E
171
26
15%
Operator F
142
11
8%
Operator G
54
0
0%
Operator H
133
15
11%
Operator I
172
54
31%
TOTAL
853
131
15%

The Mayor: 3463 - Study of the State of Air-Conditioning Systems on Buses.pdf

Vision Zero: TfL’s Failure to Publish Timely Bus Safety Data

Keith Prince: In your response to Question 2022/1222 you stated, “TfL is not planning to pursue an independent audit of its bus safety data at this time and I have not seen evidence to suggest that an independent audit is necessary”.
Yet your response to Question 2022/2994 marks the third year in a row that TfL’s Quarterly Bus Safety Data has been published months behind schedule, this year allegedly because of a “process error which resulted in this dataset not being updated alongside the other output.”
Might not this year’s “process error”, following consistent delays on publishing this key Vision Zero Data since 2018, provide the ‘evidence’ that an independent audit is necessary?

The Mayor: As I explained in my responses to Mayor’s Questions 2021/0559 and 2021/3885, the compilation of quarterly bus safety data has historically been a resource-intensive task for Transport for London (TfL), which has sometimes resulted in delays to publication (especially during the pandemic, when staff resources were under particular pressure).
Since then, TfL has added additional information to the outputs and provided them in various formats (e.g. Power BI and Excel) and continues to implement further processes to ensure the data is as accurate, timely and as accessible as possible.
TfL and I continue to believe that an independent audit is not necessary.

Bus Driver Health and Well-Being Programme

Keith Prince: Noting your non-response to Question 2022/2995, how can you reconcile the existence of a “Bus Driver Health & Well-being Programme” with the fact that TfL is not providing toilets on over 25 percent of London Bus Routes as your Mayoralty enters its sixth year?

The Mayor: Please see my responses to Mayor’s Questions https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2022/1633
and https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2022/2161 which have now been published.

Transport Infrastructure (1)

Nick Rogers: Now that a long-term funding deal is in place for TfL, what infrastructure projects are your top priorities?

The Mayor: The top priority for Transport for London (TfL) is to move away from managed decline and continue investing in its existing infrastructure and networks to ensure that the transport system is safe, reliable and can be trusted by Londoners as we bounce back from the pandemic.
Beyond this, it is critical that investment continues into the outcomes of my Transport Strategy. This includes investment in safe and active streets, decarbonisation, as well as supporting London's housing growth and the accessibility of the transport system.

Injured police officers

Nick Rogers: For each year Sep 15 to Aug 16, Sep 16 to Aug 17, Sep 17 to Aug 18, Sep 18 to Aug 19, Sep 19 to Aug 20, Sep 20 to Aug 21 and Sep 21 to Aug 22 how many police officers were injured while undertaking their duties? How many of these had to take time off as a result?

The Mayor: The table below shows the number of officers injured in each rolling year (September to August).
Rolling Year September to August
RY15-16
RY16-17
RY17-18
RY18-19
RY19-20
RY20-21
RY21-22
2,699
2,793
2,731
3,075
3,453
3,317
3,361
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) data systems are unable to provide the time off taken direct as a result of these injuries.

Extending Free Travel on TfL’s Network (3)

Susan Hall: What costings and/loss of TfL fare revenue have you projected for your recent announcement to extend the benefit of free travel on TfL’s network to the lowest paid workers, who aren’t employed by TfL in April 2023?

The Mayor: At a time when the cost of living is increasing, and Londoners on the lowest incomes are being hit the hardest, it is right that TfL introduce this concession to ease the pressure being faced by the lowest paid transport workers.
It has been estimated this could cost up to £10m per year in forgone fares income, depending on the number of workers who access and use this benefit. This is being covered by City Hall grant funding. TfL has estimated how many journeys the workers eligible for this concession are likely to take. It remains that these journeys are a tiny proportion of the total number journeys made on the network every day, and no extra services would need to be put on.

Powering the Tube with Renewable Energy (3)

Nick Rogers: Did you give any consideration to utilising battery storage as an alternative to a PPA in order to help ensure that the Tube will be entirely powered by renewable energy by 2030?

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL) first PPA is targeting wind and solar PV technologies. When combined with these intermittent forms of renewable generation, battery storage can be of assistance, bridging periods where there is no generation by storing energy for later discharge. However, battery storage technologies are not a viable alternative to PPAs in their own right; they need to be combined with renewable generation to lower carbon emissions.
TfL has neither specified nor ruled out the use of battery technologies in the procurement of power purchase agreements (PPAs); it will be up to the generator to optimise the design.

Supporting Disabled Londoners as the ULEZ expands (2)

Siân Berry: What assessment has been made by Transport for London (TfL) of the potential negative health impact that the proposed London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) may have for Disabled Londoners, where a lack of accessible public transport may mean they are less able to leave their homes?

The Mayor: An Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) was carried out by independent consultants Jacobs Ltd, for the proposed London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone. This included an assessment of the potential health and equality impacts. A short-to-medium term moderate differential negative impact on health (stress and anxiety and isolation) is expected for disabled people who rely on a non-compliant vehicle and do not qualify for the disabled vehicle tax class exemption, which could result in poor socio-economic and wellbeing outcomes.
The IIA sets out Transport for London’s (TfL’s) proposed mitigation for this impact which includes the extension of the wheelchair accessible private hire vehicle 100 per cent discount and the extension to the grace period during which non-compliant vehicles are temporarily exempt from the ULEZ change for those with disabled and disabled passenger tax class vehicles to October 2027. It suggests further mitigations including that TfL facilitates discussions with stakeholders to support choices around options available, and a new scrappage scheme which it says should continue to be targeted at low income and disabled Londoners. Finally, it suggests TfL provides targeted assistance with applications for the new scrappage scheme where needed.
TfL has been engaging with disabled Londoners and representative groups during the consultation period and will consider the issues raised in the IIA and by stakeholders, and respond to them, in its report on the consultation.

Piccadilly line (3)

Onkar Sahota: Can Transport for London provide more accurate aggregate data on the Piccadilly line’s operating performance?

The Mayor: Please find attached the ‘Service Operated’ figures for the Piccadilly line for 2022/23 year to date. Figures are shown by London Underground reporting week, and also include period and year to date figures. These are shown to the end of reporting week 22, which finished on 3 September 2022. Figures are provided for:
‘Service operated’ compares the actual number of train trips versus the scheduled number of train trips over time using a predetermined set of measuring points. The schedule is based on the current working timetables, and includes adjustments for planned closures, weekend engineering works, and timetable notices. Data has also been manually adjusted where there is an impact of three hours or more due to system issues causing a loss of data, or industrial action.
Data is taken from the signalling system and small incidents of over or under reporting can occur if there is a problem with the data feed.
Service Operated data is published on the Transport for London website at this address: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/underground-services-performance

The Mayor: 3371 attachment.xlsx

FGM

Susan Hall: How many cases of FGM have there been in London for each year since 2016?

The Mayor: Flagging heavily relies on officers having knowledge and applying the flag to each potential case.
2022 (to 10 September)

Planning for Future Heatwaves (3)

Sakina Sheikh: What estimated impact will the Urban Greening Factor have on preventing future heatwaves in London?

The Mayor: Policy G5 Urban Greening in my London Plan requires major developments to incorporate urban greening as a fundamental element of site and building design. It sets Urban Greening Factor (UGF) target scores to measure the quantity and quality of greening provided. Development proposals should consider UGF requirements alongside other policies such as SI 4 Managing Heat Risk so that greening is used to help reduce contributions to the urban heat island effect and unwanted heat entering buildings (e.g by using trees to provide shading or providing green roofs).
As this policy applies to new developments it will have an important but limited impact on future heatwaves in London. Since 2016 I have invested over £20million in improving London's green infrastructure outside of new developments and have recently announced a further £3.1m tree planting programme focused on areas of the city most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Mobile phones (3)

Susan Hall: How many Met issued mobile phones have not been used within:

• Six months
• One year
• Ever

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has a rolling programme to disconnect unused SIM cards/phones. Some are unused due to maternity or other forms of extended leave. Typically, up to 2,000 are unused within any six month rolling period.
After one year, typically approximately 200 are unused and the majority of these are retained for emergency use.
In addition, a small number (less than 1000) of brand new phones are in the process of dispatch to Officers and Staff and have therefore not yet been used. This ensures the MPS have sufficient holdings for new starters and Officers/Staff changing roles.

IBBG Benchmarking of London’s Bus Worker Covid-19 Deaths against Peer World Cities

Keith Prince: In response to Question 2021/2853, you stated “The International Bus Benchmarking Group Covid-19 benchmarking is now being carried out by Imperial College London and the results are expected in late 2021. Transport for London will publish the results of this benchmarking once it is available and has been checked for accuracy and the anonymisation of other cities’ data.”

It is October 2022: when will TfL published this IBBG Study for public scrutiny?

The Mayor: As part of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) programme, IBBG attempted to collect and compare bus staff fatalities in a comparable manner. However, Imperial College, which undertakes IBBG benchmarking, does not consider the obtained bus staff deaths data to be comparable across member cities. The reasons for the incomparability as mentioned by Imperial College are:
As a result, Imperial College did not include the bus staff deaths data in its 2020/21 KPI analysis. It is for this reason, Transport for London does not plan to publish the data.

Vision Zero: Implementation and Monitoring of Prevention of Future Deaths Reports issued to TfL, GLA and the Royal Borough of Greenwich after a pedestrian was killed on 5 January 2016 by a Route 472 Bus operated by Stagecoach

Keith Prince: In its Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) Report issued to TfL for this incident, the coroner mandated that TfL, the GLA and the Royal Borough of Greenwich review the design of the incident junction and make improvements to the layout, signage and crossing to prevent future incidents. Please provide me with documentary evidence that (a) TfL, the GLA and the Royal Borough of Greenwich have implemented and monitored the actions compelled by this by this PFD report and (b) TfL has reviewed similar junctions maintained by TfL across London’s bus network to discover if similar dangers exist and should be rectified.

The Mayor: Since receiving the Coroner’s Report to Prevent Future Deaths following the tragic death of a pedestrian on 5 January 2016, Transport for London (TfL) has implemented a range of measures along West Parkside / Pilot Busway in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This includes the replacement of the bi-directional ‘busway’ arrangement with a standard ‘dual carriageway’ layout. Additionally, TfL has introduced a 20mph speed limit and traffic calming measures at the junctions with Edmund Halley Way and John Harrison Way, improved existing pedestrian crossings, and added two new pedestrian crossings at the junction with John Harrison Way, and at Pilot Way. TfL continues to monitor collision data at the site. There are no other sites where a similar two-way busway is in operation on a London bus route.

Lack of Toilet Dignity for Bus Drivers: Safety/Duty of Care

Keith Prince: Your response to Question 2022/2687 is an evidence-free assertion and not the documentary evidence (third party studies, in-house analysis) that I requested and that would prove that TfL denying adequate toilet facilities on a quarter of London’s bus routes has or (has had) no impact on safety performance. Do you have such information? If not, why not?

The Mayor: As explained in my response Mayor's Question 2022/2684, bus drivers on all routes in London have access to a toilet.
In reports since April 2016, the need to urgently use a toilet is only mentioned by bus drivers in a very small number of safety incident reports. Therefore, with such a small number of reported incidents relative to the huge number of bus driver journeys, any further analysis is highly unlikely to be able to demonstrate a causal relationship between toilet provisions and safety incidents.

ULEZ Expansion Consultation (4)

Nick Rogers: If a respondent to your ULEZ Expansion consultation wanted TfL to be absolutely clear that they were opposed to any expansion of the ULEZ, which questions would they need to answer and what answers should they give?

The Mayor: Question 8 on Transport for London’s consultation survey included an option for people to select that the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion should not happen at all.
Question 13 within the consultation survey was a free text question where respondents could provide their opinion on the ULEZ expansion proposals. This allowed people to both tell us if they opposed to the proposals as well as provide some context as to the reason why.

Vision Zero: Proposed Changes to Motoring Offences Sentencing Guidelines

Keith Prince: The Government’s Public Consultation on the Proposed Changes to Motoring Offences Sentencing Guidelines closed on 29 September. Did you support the—in my view—'Vision Zero’- friendly' changes to the Sentencing Guideline, including, but not limited to, the enhancements to the culpability and aggravating factors involving sentencing to death or injury by dangerous and/or careless driving?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) and the Metropolitan Police Service are submitting a joint response to the consultation. They have been given an extension so that they can consult meaningfully with Vision Zero stakeholders. TfL participated in a webinar on this topic which was run by Action Vision Zero with criminal justice partners on 17 October which will help to inform the response.

Procurement (1)

Neil Garratt: A GLA press release announced on the 2nd September 2022, “The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has unveiled bold plans to use the £9.5bn combined purchasing power of the Greater London Authority Group to help make the capital greener and fairer for all Londoners”. Is this just a grandiose way of saying you are changing procurement rules?

The Mayor: The public sector procurement regulations are enshrined within UK law, and it is not within my gift to change these. Leveraging procurement spend and supplier relationships within those parameters to create social value is a widely used approach by both central and local government across the UK.
The GLA Group complies with the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 through implementation of the GLA Group Responsible Procurement Policy. The Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan derived from it sets out the actions that the GLA Group has prioritised to deliver against the Responsible Procurement Policy themes between now and 2024, focusing our resources on those areas that have the greatest impact.

Procurement (2)

Neil Garratt: When will The Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan become operational?

The Mayor: The GLA Group’s Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan became operational once it was approved by the GLA Group Collaborative Procurement Board on 25th August 2022. It supersedes the previous Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan, which had been in place since March 2019.

Procurement (3)

Neil Garratt: You have stated, “All suppliers of contracts over £5m must provide carbon reduction plans”. Can you please elaborate on how comprehensive these plans have to be?

The Mayor: The requirement for carbon reduction plans is aligned to the government’s Procurement Policy Note 06/21. As per this Policy Note, suppliers must publish an organisation-wide carbon reduction plan, which has been published on the supplier’s website, has been signed off at an appropriate level within 12 months of the date of the procurement, confirms the supplier’s commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 (at the latest), details the supplier’s Greenhouse Gas emissions and details the environmental management measures that can be applied in the delivery of the contract.
In addition to their organisation-wide carbon reduction plan, bidders to the GLA Group will also be encouraged to demonstrate how their contract delivery will contribute towards London’s ambition of being net-zero by 2030.

ULEZ Scrappage Scheme Lessons

Caroline Pidgeon: Please state what lessons you have learnt from the scrappage scheme in the run up to the October 2021 ULEZ expansion, and how these will shape any future scheme in the event that the further expansion of the ULEZ goes ahead in August 2023.

The Mayor: My previous scrappage scheme was incredibly successful and helped charities, businesses, disabled people and Londoners on lower incomes scrap over 15,200 non-compliant vehicles.. The successes of this scheme will be built on for the proposed scrappage scheme if I decide to implement a London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Transport for London (TfL) is drafting a report to evaluate the previous scrappage scheme to be published in the coming months. This will include the results of an online questionnaire sent to successful applicants of the car and motorcycle scrappage scheme, as well as other key information such as the overall breakdown of users, an evaluation of the operations and process, and a comparison of other scrappage schemes in the UK and internationally.
TfL will use the results of this report alongside feedback from the consultation and stakeholder engagement to inform the development of a potential scrappage scheme and ensure it provides effective support to those who need it most. TfL is also exploring the potential for mobility credits as an alternative option.

Central London Bus Review (2)

Tony Devenish: In an interview with MyLondon on 1st September Andy Byford spoke of the need to make public transport "irresistible". Do you accept that the proposed bus cuts outlined in the Central London Bus Review would do the opposite?

The Mayor: Andy Byford spoke of the need to make the bus ‘irresistible’ by improving bus priority through new bus lanes and better priority at junctions, combined with environmentally friendly buses, better on-board experience, and better customer information – a package of improvements which is currently being trialled on route 63. Transport for London’s (TfL) Bus Action Plan sets out its proposals to enhance the bus customer experience. This plan includes provision of 25 kilometres of new bus lane and is endorsed by the latest funding agreement. The delivery of measures to improve bus speeds and the customer experience, as set out in the Bus Action Plan, will help improve the attractiveness of the bus.
The proposed central London changes that TfL consulted on were designed to minimise disruption to passengers as much as possible, while making the savings required by Government in successive funding deals. TfL proposed withdrawing some individual bus routes or sections of routes where they are covered by other high-frequency services or are close to alternative stops, and the proposals would retain a high frequency service in Central London. TfL is currently analysing responses from the recent consultation. Please also see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/3574.

Central London Bus Review (1)

Tony Devenish: In the light of your agreement with the DfT on a long-term funding deal, will you reassure my constituents that you will not be going ahead with the cuts proposed in the Central London Bus Review?

The Mayor: While the funding agreement agreed with Government on 31 August moves us away from the managed decline of the transport network and an 18 per cent reduction in bus services, it has still left Transport for London (TfL) with a funding gap. This means we are still facing some tough future choices.
The agreement with Government assumes that TfL maintains service levels at a level which includes a package of reductions in central London bus services consistent with TfL’s Financial Sustainability Plan. This Plan subsequently formed the basis of the recent Central London Bus Review consultation. TfL is currently reviewing responses to the consultation. When both that review and a new TfL business plan are complete, TfL will publish, in due course, a consultation report and will confirm the proposals which will be progressed, taking account of the latest government funding agreement.

Central London Bus Review (3)

Tony Devenish: Given how little money would actually be saved by the proposals in the Central London Bus Review, do you accept that they would be unjustifiable in comparison to other potential savings options?

The Mayor: The proposals set out in Transport for London’s (TfL’s) recent Central London Bus Review consultation would save a recurring £35 million per annum gross, or over a hundred million pounds over three years. The proposals have been designed to better match bus capacity to demand, so will deliver the required savings whilst maintaining an attractive and high-frequency bus service in central London.
In my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/3574, I explain why service changes are still required in line with Transport for London’s long term funding agreement.
TfL is currently reviewing responses to the consultation. When both that review and a new TfL business plan are complete, TfL will publish, in due course, a consultation report and confirm the proposals which will be progressed, taking account of the latest government funding agreement.

Self-identification

Susan Hall: What is the protocol and process when a Met Police Officer needs to conduct a more thorough search and the searchee identifies themselves under a characteristic other than to which they are presenting? For example, would a male police officer search a male self-identifying as a woman or would a female police officer be required to do so?

The Mayor: Stop and search is an intrusive tactic, so it is important that the police ensure people are treated with dignity and respect when exercising these powers. There are several levels of search, referred to as ‘more thorough searches’, i.e. searches that require the removal of more than jacket, outer coat and gloves (see Table A below).
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is currently reviewing the publication of the NPCC’s ‘Trans Guidance for the Policing Sector’ and once a position has been taken, the MPS Stop and Search policy will be reviewed to reflect that position. Relevant legislation is the Gender Recognition act 2004, Equality Act 2010, Human Rights Act 1998. Current policy states:
Any search involving the removal of more than an outer coat, jacket, gloves, headgear or footwear, or any other item concealing identity, may only be made by an officer of the same sex as the person searched and may not be made in the presence of anyone of the opposite sex unless the person being searched specifically requests it.
Where there is doubt as to the sex of a person, the person will be asked what gender they consider themselves to be. They will then be treated by officers as their elected gender.
If at any time (including during the search) there is doubt as to whether the person should be treated, or continue to be treated, as being male or female:
I. The person should be asked what sex they consider themselves to be. If they express a preference to be dealt with as a particular sex, they should be asked to indicate and confirm their preference by signing the search record or the officer's notebook. Subject to (ii) below, the person should be treated according to their preference;
II. If there are grounds to doubt that the preference in (i) accurately reflects the person's predominant lifestyle, for example, if they ask to be treated as a woman but documents and other information make it clear that they live predominantly as a man, or vice versa, they should be treated according to what appears to be their predominant lifestyle and not their stated preference;
III. If the person is unwilling to express a preference as in (i) above, efforts should be made to determine their predominant lifestyle and they should be treated as such. For example, if they appear to live predominantly as a woman, they should be treated as being female; or
IV. If none of the above apply, the person should be dealt with according to what reasonably appears to have been their sex as registered at birth
Table A – MPS Levels of Search:
Level
Extent of search
Who can search?
Where can you search?
1
Standard: Up to Jacket, Outer coat & Gloves removed
Any Officer
Public Place
2
More Thorough: Headgear & footwear removed
Any Officer
Out of public view
3
More Thorough: Religious headgear only removed
Same sex where practicable
Out of public view
4
More Thorough: Upper and lower clothing removed
Same sex
Out of public view
5
More Through Intimate Parts exposed
Same sex
Out of public view (not in police vehicle)

Follow-Up Independent Study of Bus Driver Deaths from Covid-19

Keith Prince: Based on your responses to questions 2022/1632 and 2022/1629, it appears that a significant proportion of the 76 bus drivers who have died from Covid-19 since March 2020 fell ill and died long after the first wave of the pandemic. Given that the UCL IHE Phase 1 and Phase 2 study restricted its purview to bus drivers who died between March and May 2020, will you ask TfL to commission a follow-up independent study to investigate those 49 bus driver Covid-19 deaths which have taken place since May 2020?

The Mayor: As I said in my answer to Mayor’s Question 2022/0151, the deaths of bus drivers resulting from Covid-19 are devastating. I have commissioned a significant amount of research into the causes of this and I do not believe a further independent study is necessary.
. The research commissioned by Transport for London (TfL) and undertaken by the Institute of Health Equity at UCL into bus driver deaths during the first wave of the pandemic, resulted in several evidence-based recommendations on what more could be done to improve bus driver safety from Covid-19, which have been adopted.
In addition, the Phase 2 research by UCL considered the subsequent mortality suffered by London bus drivers for the period May to December 2020 at a high level. It noted that the rates fell significantly and concluded they were unlikely to be statistically greater than what would be expected on the basis of regional and ethnic death rates.
TfL’s bus driver Health & Wellbeing workstream under the Bus Safety Programme (referenced in my answer to Mayor’s Question 2022/1633) will continue to focus on the longer-term improvements to bus drivers’ health and wellbeing to address the underlying health concerns set out in the UCL Phase 2 study.
TfL believes the key risk factors around ethnicity, age, gender and area of residence will have largely remained stable within the workforce. As such, it does not believe a further review of more recent Covid deaths will materially change the recommendations and the actions being taken.

Neighbourhood Policing Teams

Unmesh Desai: What are the number of Metropolitan Police Officers who work in a neighbourhood policing team? Can you provide a breakdown by BCU?

The Mayor: OCU
Police Officers
Central South Neighbourhoods
208
Central West Neighbourhoods
473
Central East Neighbourhoods
231
Central North Neighbourhoods
197
East Area Neighbourhoods
324
North Area Neighbourhoods
258
North East Neighbourhoods
292
North West Neighbourhoods
301
South East Neighbourhoods
323
South Area Neighbourhoods
319
South West Neighbourhoods
343
West Area Neighbourhoods
370
Grand Total
3639
For the purpose of the MQ, neighbourhood policing is defined as Dedicated Ward Officers and those on Town Centre teams.

Ride Along Initiative (1)

Susan Hall: How many members of the public have participated in the Met’s Ride Along Initiative Sep 20 to Aug 21 and Sep 21 to Aug 22??

The Mayor: Between September 2020 and August 2021, the Ride Along Scheme was put on hold due to the COVID pandemic. From September 2021 to August 2022, 529 members of the public participated in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Ride Along scheme. Since January 2022, the scheme has received 1,792 new applications.

TfL’s Failure to Conduct a Short-Term Review of Shift Lengths, Patterns and Rotas of London Bus Drivers

Keith Prince: In your response to Question 2022/2973, I was shocked to learn that TfL has failed to conduct “a short-term review of shift lengths, patterns and rotas” for London bus drivers as recommended in UCL’s Phase 2 report to which TfL responded on 19 March 2021.
Should I conclude that TfL’s inexplicable 18-month delay on commissioning an independent expert to carry out this simple task recommended by UCL is due to TfL’s fear that the public will be made aware that the shift lengths, patterns and rotas implemented by bus operators and approved by Unite the Union for years are responsible for dangerous levels of bus driver fatigue?

The Mayor: I reiterate the points made in my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/2973. Transport for London is currently reviewing fatigue risk assessment tools and exploring the potential links between fatigue incidents and schedules and rosters through a trial of fatigue detection technology. This work will inform the purpose and scope of a future review of shift lengths, patterns and rotas by first providing insight on the types of shifts and rotas that may influence the likelihood of fatigue.

Ride Along Initiative (3)

Susan Hall: How much has the Met’s Ride Along Initiative cost, including opportunity cost, from Sep 20 to Aug 21 and Sep 21 to Aug 22?

The Mayor: The cost to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) of the Ride Along initiative is the cost of a full time (Police Constable) Ride Along Scheme Coordinator who carries out the administrative duties associated with the scheme. The cost of a PC (including basic pay, allowances, employer pension contributions and NI contributions, but excluding uniform) is £59,794.
Everyone who goes on a ride along is assigned to officers already rostered to work and so this is no extra cost to the organisation.

Safer schools officers

Susan Hall: How many safer schools officers are there currently?

The Mayor: As of end of September 2022 there are currently 373 Safer Schools officers across the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

Summer Events

Neil Garratt: Your press release dated 28th July titled “Mayor encourages Londoners to make the most of capital this summer” provides some examples of free or discounted events in the capital that have been funded by the GLA over the summer. Now these events have ended can you please tell us the final costs and how many individual visits there were from Londoners to these venues?

The Mayor: My Let’s Do London tourism campaign is supporting businesses to recover from the pandemic. Last year it generated £81m for London’s economy and attracted 330,000 visitors to the capital.
The related press release showcased existing free and discounted events delivered by third parties at no additional cost to the Let’s Do London campaign. Notting Hill Carnival attracts approximately a million visitors over the weekend every year, and receives £650k funding from the GLA. Visitor numbers and GLA investment in the official UEFA ‘Fan Party’ in celebration of the Women’s EURO 2022 championship, run by the GLA, will be released in due course.
The list of free or discounted events referenced in the release was previously provided in MQ 3004.

Office working in London

Marina Ahmad: It has been reported that the cost of travel is the biggest factor deterring staff from returning to their central London workplace, despite increased costs to working from home. Business leaders have called for a “creative and flexible approach”, with more attractive off-peak prices. The Government have assumed a four per cent hike in Tube and bus fares in March next year as part of the TfL funding settlement. How can you support Londoners and businesses who are concerned about this, and how will this impact on London’s recovery?

The Mayor: The well-established option to pay as you go with contactless or Oyster provides customers in London with an easy and flexible way to pay for travel. Rather than paying for a ticket upfront, pay as you go means you only pay when you actually travel.
Pay as you go users also benefit from daily and weekly capping, meaning that their travel over any Monday to Sunday week is capped at the price of the equivalent weekly Travelcard and each day their travel is capped at one fifth of the weekly cap.
There is also the Hopper fare which allows unlimited free transfers between buses and/or trams within an hour
Seasons tickets, which give unlimited travel for a set price that must be paid upfront, are available for those who want them. An Annual Travelcard gives 52 weeks of travel for the price of 40 and a Monthly is slightly cheaper than four weekly Travelcards.

Hit and run prosecutions 2021

Caroline Russell: Could you report the most recent figures for numbers of casualties relating to hit and runs in London in 2020, broken down by: a) road user mode of both parties, b) severity type by CRASH/COPA categories: Fatal, Very Serious, Moderately Serious, Less Serious, and Slight, c) borough, and d) whether there was a prosecution?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2021/0970.

Procurement (5)

Neil Garratt: You have stated, “Suppliers are expected to be willing to have trade union recognition agreements”. What if the supplier providing the best value for taxpayers has a perfect record with regard to staff relations but does not have trade union recognition agreements? Will they be excluded from bidding?

The Mayor: My Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan states that the GLA Group will “encourage suppliers to comply with their obligations concerning trade union recognition, and to have trade union recognition agreements with their employees, using GLA procurement to do so where lawful and practicable.”
Where suppliers do not have agreements in place, my team will offer support to assist them to establish these and seek to collaborate over time on a basis of continuous improvement for workers employed on these contracts.

Tasers (6)

Nick Rogers: Please detail the number of occasions for each year Sep 15 to Aug 16, Sep 16 to Aug 17, Sep 17 to Aug 18, Sep 18 to Aug 19, Sep 19 to Aug 20, Sep 20 to Aug 21 and Sep 21 to Aug 22 that officers have been found to have incorrectly used and / or discharged Met tasers.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) advises me that incorrect discharge would be considered an Unintentional Discharge (UD). Data for Taser UDs is held by calendar year and is shown in the table below.
These instances are where a Taser was discharged unintentionally by an officer, or by third party intervention. The MPS has now designed and implemented a trigger cover to prevent UDs occurring during the loading and unloading process.
Calendar Year
Unintentional Discharges
2015
12
2016
17
2017
13
2018
19
2019
21
2020
11
2021
14
2022 (to date)
4

Bridge Collapse Risk (2)

Anne Clarke: Does the lack of capital funding and a fair revenue funding settlement for Transport for London combined with the lack of funding for local boroughs necessitate a review of the risk of bridge collapse in London?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has a comprehensive risk-based structural inspection programme across its assets. All structures are inspected regularly, with increased and more detailed inspections for those pending renewal. An asset would be closed if it becomes unsafe and interim structural measures cannot be used to keep the structure open and operational.
TfL currently has 54 interim measures in place on highway structures. These include parapet wall protection, lane closures, and remote monitoring equipment. For some complex repairs that require major funding, TfL is submitting business cases for funding to the Department for Transport (DfT) through the Major Road Network Programme.
TfL’s DfT funding settlement includes a commitment of £69m per year to the London boroughs for 2022/23 and 2023/24. TfL is in discussions with the boroughs to confirm the priorities for how this funding will be allocated. TfL is unable to comment on individual London borough structural inspection programmes.

ULEZ Expansion Consultation (5)

Nick Rogers: Are you confident that TfL's ULEZ Expansion Consultation is written in such a way that a respondent who wished to make absolutely clear that they opposed any expansion of the ULEZ could do so with no fear of their answer being misinterpreted?

The Mayor: Please see my response to question 2022/2199.

TfL Go app

Caroline Pidgeon: How many downloads have there been since the launch of the TfL Go app? What new features is TfL considering to further expand the app?

The Mayor: The TfL Go app has been downloaded over 2.3 million times on iOS and Android devices (as of 3 October 2022) since its release in August 2020.
The app is updated regularly with new features and incremental improvements to existing functionality. In recent weeks, Transport for London (TfL) has added more information about station closures and advance notice of severe disruption. TfL has also incorporated editorial features which were used during Operation London Bridge to support customers attending events in London.
The Next major release will include account and payment features so that customers can top-up their Oyster card, purchase Travelcards and view their journey history in one integrated experience. TfL will continue to improve the travel planning experience with more real-time bus and National Rail data, and push notifications. TfL is also planning Santander Cycles integration and cycle routing improvements.

West Brompton – Planned Industrial Action

Caroline Pidgeon: With a new wave of strikes approaching fast, it is important to again minimise disruption to passengers at West Brompton and to provide accurate passenger information at the station and online. What measures are in place to ensure passengers receive accurate information?

The Mayor: Please see my answer to Mayor's Question 2022/3393. West Brompton has the same level of communications available as other stations across the network.

Professional Safety Qualifications of Senior TfL Executives

Keith Prince: Please provide me with (a) the Professional Safety Qualifications (e.g., Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) and Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) accreditations) of the following TfL executives; and (b) the date when they achieved the qualification and when they were appointed.

Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Head of Bus Business Development
Director of Buses

The Mayor: Safety is treated with the utmost importance across Transport for London (TfL). The roles in question are leadership positions, with their appointments based on leadership strengths and prior leadership experience. These roles are supported by safety and engineering professionals who hold all the necessary safety qualifications to ensure that TfL operates a safe transport system. Some of our transport systems, such as rail, are reviewed and approved by the health and safety regulator, the Office of Road and Rail.
The Director of Buses attained her NEBOSH qualifications in January 2010 along with her IOSH qualification in March 2007. She joined TfL as Director of Buses in August 2021.
As part of her ongoing professional development, the Chief Safety, Health & Environment Officer attained her NEBOSH certification in Health and Safety Leadership Excellence in December 2019 and is fully engaged in the process of learning associated with gaining full NEBOSH and IOSH accreditation. She was appointed to her current role in September 2019.
TfL’s Chief Operating Officer has over three decades’ experience within the transport industry and over that time, he has undertaken a number of safety training courses and is the approved regulatory holder for London Underground for ORR purposes. Whilst the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Bus Business Development do not hold specific health and safety qualifications, they are fully supported in this regard by safety, engineering and other professionals. The Chief Operating Officer was appointed as Managing Director of London Underground in November 2019, with the Head of Bus Operations appointed in August 2018.

Ethnic Diversity in GLA Procurement (1)

Hina Bokhari: What data do you collect on the ethnic diversity of business-owners applying for and securing GLA procurement contracts?

The Mayor: Currently data about the ethnic diversity of business-owners is collected for specific contracts, where supplier diversity has been built into the procurement strategy in support of my policies, including Responsible Procurement. One current example is the Architecture and Urbanism Framework, which is collecting and analysing diversity information by ethnic group of all directors/partners/owners at each stage of the procurement process, including the standard selection questionnaire, invitation to tender and contract award stages.
As part of my recently updated Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan and changes to the new procurement and supplier registration system, data for all direct suppliers is requested to reflect whether they are a majority Black, Asian or minority ethnic owned or led business, on a voluntarily basis. Further categorisation of ethnic diversity of owners may be still collected on specific contracts.

LU's Training Backlog

Tony Devenish: How long is London Underground’s current training backlog?

The Mayor: The Covid 19 pandemic and requirement for social distancing, coupled with Covid-related absences, impacted Transport for London’s capacity to deliver the same quantity of training as it did prior to the pandemic. In response, TfL has worked collaboratively with the regulator, rail industry partners, and its internal safety team to develop processes to maintain compliance in a safe environment. At all times, TfL has continued to ensure that any training backlogs have no impact on safety. In some instances, such as at times of high staff sickness, the pandemic’s ongoing impact on training has resulted in service disruption due to reduced resilience in some critical areas such as service control, but TfL is working hard to rectify this.
The current status is as follows:
Competence: TfL has robustly maintained competence in accordance with the regulator’s requirements through a combination of its approved risk assessment process and course redesign to verify the competence of its staff.
Train Operators: Current backlog is c.20 trainees. Almost all Tube lines now have required resourcing.
LU stations: There is no training backlog as TfL maintains a constant pipeline of new recruits being trained to fill in vacancies
LU Service Control: There is a training backlog of around 10 per cent of the existing establishment. In Signals there is a backlog of about 18-24 months, However, TfL has active recruitment and training plans in place.
Asset (Fleet, Track and Permanent Way, Emergency Response, Power): These areas have an average backlog of 12-24 months. This is being remedied alongside continuous business as usual training and competence requirements.

Lack of Air Conditioning on TfL Buses

Keith Prince: On 28 July 2022, a bus driver named ‘Kevin’ called into LBC’s "Speak to Sadiq” show to complain directly to you that London bus drivers’ cabs lacked air conditioning (https://youtu.be/8L1T_JzYwVg).
The response you gave the bus driver was nearly identical to the answers you gave to a
(a) bus driver named “Jason” on the same program on 22 July 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi0_JvKUv6E&t=3s; and
(b) bus driver “Yazu” on the same show on 27 July 2018 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXdQmT3zoLg).

Taking into account your response to Question 2021/3713, how can you explain
(a) the persistence of bus drivers’ evidenced complaints about the lack of air conditioning on London buses; and
(b) your refusal to acknowledge there appears to be a systemic problem that requires your urgent intervention and regular monitoring?

The Mayor: All bus driver cabs are fitted with air conditioning. Each bus operator is responsible for their maintenance and has their own servicing regime.
Isolation of the drivers’ cab Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning system from the saloon has also been introduced following advice from University College London on Covid-19 transmission. As those systems that recirculated air from the vehicle saloon have been modified to fresh air only, in some cases the system performance has suffered as a result. This was done to give bus drivers a significantly safer work environment during the height of the pandemic.
From 2024, all buses will have CO2 monitors to monitor air quality and determine when to add fresh air or keep recirculating the air within the driver cab area. Also, there will be more vents directing air towards the arms/face and feet of the drivers.

Electric Car Charging points in Brent and Harrow

Krupesh Hirani: What is the Mayor doing to increase electric car charging points in Brent and Harrow?

The Mayor: Many more charge points are needed to support the current pace of transition to electric vehicles (EVs). A key principle of my 2030 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy is to create an environment that supports a commercially viable, self-sustaining public charge point market as well as equitable and affordable access to EV infrastructure. The focus of my strategy is on supporting key EV user groups who make high mileage trips and perform essential roles, including taxis and private hire drivers, as well as other commercial vehicles.
My policies to drive the uptake of EVs are enabling the private sector to increasingly lead on delivery. In March 2022, Uber announced they would invest £5 million to install over 700 on-street charge points, working in partnership with three boroughs, including Brent, to support private hire drivers switch to electric vehicles.
As of July 2022, there were 45 EV public charging devices in Harrow and 501 in Brent, which represents 0.4 and 4.8 per cent respectively of the more than 10,500 charging devices in London. Both boroughs have been successful in the past in accessing government funding for the delivery of on-street residential charging and Transport for London and London Councils will continue to provide support to apply for any new funding that becomes available.

New Investment Zones

Tony Devenish: What discussions have you had with Government to ensure London obtains one or more new Investment Zones as announced by the Chancellor on the 23rd September?

The Mayor: On 23 September 2022 I attended a meeting with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP, and other English metro mayors in which Investment Zones (IZs) were the sole agenda item.
My teams have since worked closely with the relevant London boroughs and government officials to identify the most appropriate sites for IZs across London, in order to develop a strong bid for the Government’s EOI process.
On Friday 14 October, the London IZ EOI was submitted to government including the following proposed locations:
Euston and King’s Cross Innovation District
London Riverside
Old Oak West
As part of the Royal Docks, Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead Investment Zone proposal:
Royal Docks
Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead
As part of the Upper Lea Valley Investment Zone proposal:
Edmonton
North Tottenham
Waltham Forest
Whitgift & Queen’s Square (Croydon)

£150 Council Tax Rebate

Krupesh Hirani: Several London boroughs have failed to pay the £150 council tax rebate to more than half of eligible households. What powers do you have to encourage boroughs to speed up their processes?

The Mayor: To date, no powers have been granted by central government to the Mayor that would allow him to intervene in the council tax arrangements or processes within any London borough.

E-Bike Parking

Tony Devenish: What are you doing to work with e-bike operators to ensure that dockless e-bikes are not parked at pavement junctions or in other areas where they are a hazard for pedestrians?

The Mayor: Dockless e-bike rental is presently unregulated in the UK. As such, Transport for London (TfL) has no formal role in controlling or overseeing this market – agreements to deploy bikes are struck directly between operating companies and individual London Boroughs. In lieu of regulatory control however, TfL has sought to imbed some basic standards in this market by publishing a Code of Practice for Dockless Bike Operators, which does set a clear expectation of considerate parking.
TfL is currently working with e-bike operators, London Councils and the London Boroughs to update the Code of Practice, with the intention of placing a greater focus on using fixed parking locations for deploying bikes and ending hires. This approach to parking has been employed in the e-scooter trial and would be likely to reduce on-street issues if it was adopted for e-bikes too.

Signa Application

Susan Hall: How many incidents have been shared through the Met’s Signa Application?

The Mayor: As of 4 October 2022, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has recorded a total of 286 entries on Signa.
These are reviewed by the Directorate of Professional Standards along with all other conduct, complaints and intelligence available.

Notting Hill Carnival (2)

Susan Hall: What was the cost to the Met of policing this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, including the opportunity cost?

The Mayor: The full details of the cost of policing the Notting Hill Carnival is not yet available and will be published under the Metropolitan Police Service Publication Scheme later this year.

Met’s performance and promotion processes

Susan Hall: Please can you provide the new leadership framework attributes and outcomes, which is being built into the Met’s performance and promotion processes?

The Mayor: 3090_Met’s performance and promotion processes.pdf

Mayoral Boards Budget Variance

Len Duvall: The GLA Chief Officer’s budget shows an overspend of more than 200 percent on Mayoral Boards. Please explain this variance and how it will be addressed through the rest of this budget year.

The Mayor: The Mayoral Boards cost centre is used to fund the salaries of Committee Services staff who provide clerking support to TfL, OPDC and LLDC Boards and committees, and some Mayoral Boards through shared services arrangements, plus some small areas of related non-pay spend.
As at the end of Period 6 (17 September 2022), the Mayoral Boards cost centre showed a net year-to-date overspend against budget of £152K. This is principally due in part to a technical accounting income accrual of £354k, where receipt of some shared services income for the 2021/22 year is awaited. This income accrual is offset by underspend of £202k partly due to vacancies within the Committee Services Team throughout the year.
Overall, the Mayoral Boards cost centre is not expected to overspend by the end of the 2022/23 financial year.

Garrett ProPointer 2

Susan Hall: How many of The Garrett ProPointer 2 devices does the Met have?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) procured 4,000 units of The Garrett ProPoint 2 device. This included sufficient stock for these to be rolled out to all of the BCUs, and a contingency stock to be held for replacement of lost, damaged or defective devices.

MD3028 September 2022 fares revision

Elly Baker: Please provide a full copy of TfL’s August 2021 “New Revenue Sources” document, without any sections “removed for relevance”.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is in the process of preparing reports on the proposals it consulted on to address the triple challenges of toxic air pollution, the climate crisis and traffic congestion which I will consider when I decide whether or not to confirm the London-wide Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) scheme. After I have taken a decision on the London-wide ULEZ, which I expect to be by the end of the year, TfL will publish the consultation report and other reports referencing the London-wide ULEZ scheme, including the August 2021 New Revenue Sources document.

Elasticity of travel demand (1)

Elly Baker: TfL has previously provided estimates on the elasticity of demand with and without fare rises, as in MQ 2011/0363. Are you able to provide similar estimates for every year since 2016 for a) TfL fares that you set and b) Fares set by the Department for transport? Please include any figures that have been produced that are looking ahead to the fares increases for 2023. Please provide the figures in Excel format.

The Mayor: The integrated nature of fares in London, particularly with regards to Pay As You Go single fares and daily and weekly caps, make it very difficult to meaningfully separate the effects of changes to fares under my control and those set by agreement with the Train Operating Companies.
The table below shows the estimated effect on demand of the fares changes implemented each year since 2016 and for 2023, compared to the effect of a package that raised fares in line with inflation using the standard rail industry benchmark of RPI inflation in July the preceding year.
It is important to note that these estimates reflect only the impact of the fares revision. Demand is also driven by a range of other factors, such as service levels, the economy, population growth and events such as the pandemic, which may have a significantly larger impact on overall demand growth than the fares revision in any given year.
Fares revision
Headline TfL fares increase
RPI inflation in July the preceding year
Real terms fares change
Estimated effect on demand relative to inflation-matching increase
Jan-16
1.0%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%
Jan-17
1.0%
1.9%
-0.9%
0.3%
Jan-18
1.8%
3.6%
-1.8%
0.5%
Jan-19
1.3%
3.2%
-1.9%
0.6%
Jan-20
1.1%
2.8%
-1.7%
0.5%
Mar-21
2.6%
1.6%
1.0%
-0.3%
Mar-22
4.8%
3.8%
1.0%
-0.3%
Mar-23
4.0%
12.3%
-8.3%
2.5%

Elasticity of travel demand (2)

Elly Baker: TfL has previously provided estimates on the elasticity of demand with and without fare rises, as in MQ 2011/0363. Are you able to provide figures for actual changes in demand for every year since 2016 for a) TfL fares that you set and b) Fares set by the Department for Transport? Please provide the figures in Excel format.

The Mayor: Determining the exact impact of fares on demand in a given year is an incredibly challenging analytical task as it requires all other factors that affect travel demand to be accurately measured and controlled for. This would require significant resources and the limited availability of London-specific data will hamper the robustness of such an analysis, especially in the context of the volatility and uncertainty caused by Brexit and the pandemic in recent years.
Transport for London has partnered with academics to undertake research into to the long-term impact of fares changes, which has demonstrated that the price elasticities used in its modelling are stable over time and recent demand trends do not provide any reason to suggest that these elasticities have changed materially in the last few years.

Museums grants

Zack Polanski: How much money has the GLA granted to museums in London since 2016, broken down by year and museum?

The Mayor: London has a huge variety of inspiring museums which we support through a wide range of different programmes across the different teams of the GLA. Each one is a place where Londoners and visitors can come together to learn and to explore the collections. According to the Arts Council for England, museums contribute £1.45 billion to the economy.
The GLA, along with the City of London Corporation, is a joint statutory funder of the Museum of London as set out in the Museum of London Act (2008). This funding is for delivery of the Museum’s programmes and, through their Museum Development Team, also supports local museums across the capital. The Museum will also receive £70m capital funding in the coming years for its move to West Smithfield. It has received funding to support other distinct projects including to deliver the Dementia Friendly Venues Charter.
The London Fire Brigade Museum is grant funded by the London Fire Brigade.
The London Transport Museum receives a grant from Transport for London.
A breakdown of funding for these museums since 2016 is attached.

The Mayor: London has a huge variety of inspiring museums which we support through a wide range of different programmes across the different teams of the GLA. Each one is a place where Londoners and visitors can come together to learn and to explore the collections. According to the Arts Council for England, museums contribute £1.45 billion to the economy.
The GLA, along with the City of London Corporation, is a joint statutory funder of the Museum of London as set out in the Museum of London Act (2008). This funding is for delivery of the Museum’s programmes and, through their Museum Development Team, also supports local museums across the capital. The Museum will also receive £70m capital funding in the coming years for its move to West Smithfield. It has received funding to support other distinct projects including to deliver the Dementia Friendly Venues Charter.
The London Fire Brigade Museum is grant funded by the London Fire Brigade.
The London Transport Museum receives a grant from Transport for London.
A breakdown of funding for these museums since 2016 is attached.

Driverless Trains in Glasgow

Nick Rogers: New Glasgow Metro trains will run without staff from 2025. Can the London Underground learn anything from the Glasgow Metro?

The Mayor: The Glasgow subway is a relatively small and simple network, compared to London Underground, operating in a continuous loop with no interaction with other rail services or lines. Transport for London has learned about the complexity of converting to driverless from Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, with Glasgow’s programme extending beyond 10 years from planning to implementation.
There is strong evidence from metros around the world that have converted old lines to driverless operation, or are in the process of doing so, that it is an extremely complex and lengthy process. It is typically timed to be done in line with upgrades involving new trains and new signalling, which in the case of London Underground, would require significant Government investment.

Transport for London (TfL) Borrowing and Financial Instability (1)

Len Duvall: How will the current financial instability (interest rate rises, fall in the value of the pound and increased inflation) impact upon the £694.1 million which TfL expects to borrow in this financial year?

The Mayor: The majority of this £694m was borrowed earlier in the financial year at fixed interest rates and was used to refinance maturing debt. The recent volatile markets have therefore had a limited impact on Transport for London’s (TfL) borrowing for this year. TfL has around £60m left to raise by March of this year and will continue to evaluate the most appropriate approach for this. This will also be used to refinance maturing borrowing.

Safe by Design (3)

Unmesh Desai: How many times in the past four years– under the Secured by Design initiative – has the MPS requested a change or modification to a planning application?

The Mayor: Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) respond to planning applications on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and provide advice in accordance with the national Secure by Design scheme. In the past 4 years DOCOs have consulted on approximately 8000 developments. This will include residential, commercial education and healthcare developments. As per our response to MQ 2022/3708, the MPS do not record where they have suggested a change or modification to a planning application.
The DOCOs provide advice throughout the planning process including direct contact with housing providers and architects. Throughout this consultative process many modifications will be discussed as the development progresses. Advice is given to the local planning authority, who are the ultimate decision maker on planning applications.

Oxford Street Pedestrianisation

Neil Garratt: You have previously committed to removing traffic from Oxford Street but Westminster City Council’s erstwhile administration considered it impractical and unviable. What progress have you made on your Oxford Street pedestrianisation commitment since May 2022?

The Mayor: I welcome the new Westminster administration’s commitment to improving Oxford Street. Investment in this area is much-needed if Oxford Street is to remain our one of our most important shopping and leisure destinations. I look forward to working with Westminster Council and other partners to help shape and deliver these improvements and build a better London for everyone.
Transport for London will continue to offer technical assistance to Westminster City Council, as they progress plans for improving Oxford Street - which will help accommodate the opening of Bond Street Elizabeth line station and through-running Elizabeth line services.
In the meantime, local businesses have reported a noticeable increase in footfall with the opening of the Elizabeth line - and the opening of the new Bond Street Elizabeth line station has been another major boostfor the area.

Tube Strikes

Caroline Pidgeon: In the upcoming tube strikes, what measures will TfL take to minimise disruption to passengers and to provide accurate passenger information at stations and online?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does everything possible to help minimise disruption to customers during strike action. TfL shares travel advice a week in advance to help customers plan their journeys. Information is shared via the TfL website, emails to its customer database and through social media channels.
Due to the nature of strikes, it is a challenge for TfL to provide detailed information on the level of service it expects to run without knowing how many staff will come into work and at what locations. TfL’s journey planning and status update tools, such as TfL Go, have the most up-to-date information and are automatically updated with every service change. TfL shares this information directly with other planning apps such as Google Maps and Citymapper and works closely with Network Rail and other operators to make sure advice reaches as many people as possible

Uber Files

Caroline Pidgeon: What assessment have you and TfL made of the recently published “Uber Files” and are you making any changes as a result?

The Mayor: The issues reported by the media in July 2022 had already been identified by Transport for London (TfL) and considered when it made its decision to refuse to grant Uber London Limited (ULL) a licence in 2017.
The issues were included in TfL’s evidence, laid before the Chief Magistrate in 2018. Following improvements in Uber’s governance arrangements, the Chief Magistrate subsequently made a decision to issue ULL with a licence with conditions in June 2018.

Ewell Road Cycleway

Caroline Pidgeon: As part of TfL's London Cycleway Design Standards (LCDS), what guidance is there in place to highlight to cycleway users if certain junctions are experimental, as is the case on the Ewell Road Cycleway?

The Mayor: The London Cycling Design Standards (LCDS) should be used by everyone who is shaping the highway environment through planning and street design, as well as engineers designing cycle-specific infrastructure. Transport for London (TfL) encourages boroughs to follow the guidance when designing schemes on the borough road network.
The design standards document does not explicitly require additional signing to provide guidance on experimental layouts unless those designs are innovative. This is because, in most cases, the provision is a standard layout which has been implemented under experimental traffic regulations. Ewell Road is part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames’s highway network, and it would be for the borough to decide whether appropriate additional signing would be required on this route.

Works at Holborn Gyratory

Caroline Pidgeon: What specific actions have been taken during the month of September by (a) TfL and (b) Camden Council in relation to making Holborn Gyratory safe for cyclists?

The Mayor: Following on from my previous response to Mayor’s Question 2022/2796, design work, traffic modelling and stakeholder engagement on the proposed improvements for the High Holborn/Procter Street section of the gyratory has taken place in September. This work has been completed in preparation for a public consultation planned for autumn 2022.
During September, Camden Council and Transport for London have also worked closely to progress modelling of the preferred junction designs to understand the benefits and disbenefits of various traffic signal timing combinations.

Screened out crime 2

Susan Hall: For each year 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, how many crimes were screened out by the Met by minor crime type?

The Mayor: Please refer to my response to 2022/1668.

The Mayor: 1668_&_1669_Screened out crimes 1 & 2_v1 (1).xlsx

Screened out crimes 1

Susan Hall: For each year 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, how many crimes were screened out by the Telephone Digital Investigation Unit (TDIU) by minor crime type?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have provided the information as attached to this response. This provides information on screened out crimes for the period January 2018 to December 2021.
Please ensure that the notes page is read in conjunction with the information to aid in interpretation.

The Mayor: 1668_&_1669_Screened out crimes 1 & 2_v1 (1).xlsx

Safer Cycle Routes

Sem Moema: What steps will you take to encourage Transport for London (TfL) services to improve safety along the Old Street to Holborn cycle route? This route is dangerous with reports of numerous injuries and fatalities around the Clerkenwell area. With the recent funding settlement for TfL underway, how will TfL consider directing active travel funding to Old Street?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) remains committed to developing new infrastructure that will play a vital role in improving roads for safer cycling as part of my commitment to achieve Vision Zero and to increase active travel.
Following the latest deal with Government, TfL and London’s borough have the financial certainty needed to deliver longer term infrastructure programmes. TfL continues to collaborate with the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington on cross-boundary cycle safety improvements to explore where this limited funding can best be targeted. TfL is working to transform Old Street junction, station and public realm to deliver improvements to cycling and walking, while Islington Council is developing plans for improvements to both Old Street and Clerkenwell Road.
Holborn Gyratory also remains a key priority, with Theobalds Road and Southampton Row improved by Camden Council with funding and design support from TfL. Similarly, substantial changes are being designed for the A40 Holborn gyratory, with proposals due to be consulted on in the near future by Camden Council as part of its Liveable Neighbourhood project.

Firearms Officers staff survey results

Susan Hall: Please can you provide the last staff survey results taken by the Met for Firearms Officers?

The Mayor: Individual Operational Command Unit (OCU) survey reports are not published to safeguard the anonymity and confidence of those surveyed.
However, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does publish organisation wide responses to its survey.
Survey results from 2015 onwards can be viewed at the following link:www.met.police.uk/foi-ai/af/accessing-information/published-items/?q=staff+survey

BWV process

Susan Hall: How many times was the Body Worn Video (BWV) process used for Stop and Search and Stop and Account from October 2021 to September 2022 and what is the average time taken to complete this process?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has provided the information in the table below which details the total stop and search figures between 1st October 2021 and 30th September 2022, stop and search with body worn video (BWV), and the percentage proportion between the two figures.
Stop & searches
With BWV
% With BWV
199,005
193,271
97%
Unfortunately, the MPS advises that the average amount of time taken cannot be given, due to the way the information is recorded. BWV footage is downloaded to a secure site and the link of the video is stored on the MPS’s Crimint system. There is no direct link between these systems and all records would have to be individually checked to confirm the time of each before an average could be created.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has provided the information in the table below which details the total stop and search figures between 1st October 2021 and 30th September 2022, stop and search with body worn video (BWV), and the percentage proportion between the two figures.
Stop & searches
With BWV
% With BWV
199,005
193,271
97%
Unfortunately, the MPS advises that the average amount of time taken cannot be given, due to the way the information is recorded. BWV footage is downloaded to a secure site and the link of the video is stored on the MPS’s Crimint system. There is no direct link between these systems and all records would have to be individually checked to confirm the time of each before an average could be created.

ULEZ Expansion Effect on Small Businesses (2)

Hina Bokhari: According to research by the Federation of Small Businesses in July 2022, 20% of outer London businesses are still not aware of the proposed ULEZ expansion. What are you doing to help small businesses understand the details and impact of the proposed expansion?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has engaged with local business stakeholders about the proposals to expand the ULEZ London-wide as part of the Integrated Impact Assessment, during the public consultation in May-July, and via organisations including the Federation of Small Business and the London Chamber of Commerce. Over the coming year TfL will continue to hold meetings with business groups, as well as reaching out to local Business Improvement Districts, chambers of commerce and trade associations, and via boroughs until I have made a decision based on the consultation report, Integrated Impact Assessment and other relevant information.
TfL also issued a press release to London, national and international media when the consultation was announced, and advertised the consultation via radio, press and digital platforms to ensure as many people and businesses as possible were made aware of the consultation.

Burglary

Susan Hall: Sir Mark Rowley has said that Met Police will attend all London burglary reports. Will this mean all burglaries are investigated? If not, what will be the criteria of determining if a burglary is investigated?

The Mayor: I am pleased that Sir Mark Rowley has reaffirmed the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) commitment to attend all London burglary reports.
The MPS has informed me that all burglary reports are allocated to the relevant BCU burglary team within the CID to pursue investigative lines of enquiry and the local neighbourhood team will attend the venue.

ULEZ and the NHS

Krupesh Hirani: Are you able to share any estimations on how much the Ultra Low Emission Zone has saved the NHS so far?

The Mayor: Transport for London does not hold data on how much, on its own, the existing Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has saved the NHS so far. However, a report by Health Lumen published in February 2020 (https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/ulez-to-save-billions-for-nhs) set out that the NHS would save £5 billion over the next 30 years as a result of my bold policies to tackle air pollution, including the ULEZ. It found that if no further action was taken by Government to reduce air pollution, the cost to the NHS and social care system in London is estimated to be £10.4 billion by 2050.
The Expanded ULEZ Six Month Report shows that harmful NO2 concentrations alongside roads are estimated to be 20 per cent lower in inner London and 44 per cent lower in central London than they would have been without the ULEZ and its expansion. This decrease in concentrations close to roads would have also led to reduced air pollution in locations further away from traffic.

Transport for London funding deal and decarbonising energy

Zack Polanski: You have now agreed a longer-term funding deal for Transport for London (TfL) with the Government. What progress on decarbonising TfL energy use do you expect by the end of the deal?

The Mayor: Transport for London’s (TfL’s) long-term energy procurement strategy is to ensure that all electricity it consumes is generated by 100 per cent renewable sources by 2030. This will mainly be achieved through long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) which offer the strongest strategic fit in terms of managing TfL’s long term exposure to wholesale energy prices and supporting the development of new renewable energy generation.
By the end of the longer-term funding deal in March 2024, TfL expects to have awarded its first PPA which will keep us on track to achieve the 2030 target.

Safe by Design (1)

Unmesh Desai: How many times in the past four years – under the initiative of Secured by Design – has the MPS intervened or changed a public space?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does not distinguish or record if a development is public or private in nature, nor does it record whether the MPS have suggested changes or modifications to the planning applications.
Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) respond to planning applications on behalf of the MPS and provide advice in accordance with the national Secure by Design scheme. In the past 4 years, DOCOs have advised on approximately 8,000 developments, which includes public spaces. DOCOs also conduct Environmental Visual Audits to assess the impact the built environment is having on crime and Antisocial Behaviour in public spaces, this is normally conducted at the request of local policing teams, partners and the community.

Safe by Design (2)

Unmesh Desai: How many times in the past four years – under the Secured by Design initiative – has the MPS objected to a planning application?

The Mayor: The Planning Authority are the ultimate decision makers on planning applications.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) offers guidance to the planning authority and developers and, provide opinions on how the development might impact on crime and antisocial behaviour. During this process, the Designing Out Crime Officers may raise a number of issues for consideration that vary in severity and will always seek to work in a collaborative manner with all interested parties to mitigate any concerns.
However, if significant concerns remain, this will be raised directly with the planning authority. No central records are kept of when this happens.

London Underground Track Fastenings

Caroline Pidgeon: With reference to TfL’s commitment on 11 January 2022 to prioritise the replacement of Pandrol Vanguard (PV) with Delkor track fastenings where in-carriage noise is a significant issue, how many projects have been completed and how many are outstanding? Please provide this information with timescales for completion of any outstanding work.

The Mayor: Transport for London has completed work to replace Pandrol Vanguard track fastenings with Delkor fastenings between Baker Street and St John’s Wood on the Jubilee line, and has now started this work between Euston and Camden Town in both directions on the Northern line. This work is due to be complete by the end of 2024.
TfL is currently reviewing its programme for further works, and I have asked that you are updated once further work has been scheduled.

Piccadilly line (1)

Onkar Sahota: Please provide details on the overall punctuality rate of Piccadilly line train departures from Uxbridge.

The Mayor: The table below shows trains arriving and departing within two and five minutes of their scheduled arrival and departure times between 01 April 2022 and 02 September 2022. Data is based on trains that did arrive at Uxbridge, and not those that may have been cancelled or withdrawn and therefore did not arrive at Uxbridge.
Data is taken from the signalling system. Occasional problems with the data feed can lead to data not being recorded, or not recorded correctly, therefore the data should be used as a guide and is not guaranteed to be 100 per cent accurate.
Uxbridge: Piccadilly Arrivals
Number
%
Total trains recorded
8012
Number of records missing data
419
5%
New Total
7593
Arriving within 2 minutes or less of schedule
4266
56%
Arriving over 2 minutes of schedule
3327
44%
Arriving within 5 minutes or less of schedule
6142
81%
Arriving over 5 minutes of schedule
1451
19%
Uxbridge: Piccadilly Departures
Number
%
Total trains recorded
8012
Number of records missing data
428
5%
New Total
7584
Departing within 2 minutes or less of schedule
6206
82%
Departing over 2 minutes of schedule
1378
18%
Departing within 5 minutes or less of schedule
7169
95%
Departing over 5 minutes of schedule
415
5%

Food insecurity (4)

Marina Ahmad: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, you stated that you would update the implementation plan for the food strategy, setting out your priorities for the remainder of this mayoralty and reflecting changes in response to the impact of COVID-19. How has this changed as a result of the cost of living crisis and when will your updated implementation plan be published?

The Mayor: Officers have been updating the implementation plan in the light of the rise of the cost-of-living crisis with various interventions designed to help the least well-off Londoners access affordable food. The aim is to publish this year though the current priority is to support Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis.

Housing for women leaving the criminal justice system (2)

Siân Berry: In your response to the Assembly motion, Safer Homes for Women Leaving Prison, you noted: “the opportunity that the Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3) MoJ-commissioned service presents, which is currently out to tender in London” and said that you would raise the need for women-specific accommodation to be part of this service. Could you share copies of your correspondence with the Ministry of Justice with me and provide an update on progress?

The Mayor: The Ministry of justice is overseeing Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 (CAS3), which ‘goes live’ in January 2023. Officers in the GLA Housing team have been actively involved in discussions with the MoJ on the commissioning of this service and have continually raised the need for women specific accommodation. This is reflected in the service offer in which accommodation will be available to 1700 people yearly, offering up to 12 weeks free accommodation, at the point of release for all sentenced prisoners, including women, that are homeless.
The service specification provides for 50% self-contained housing units and women will be able to access this accommodation. Some units may be offered as shared, and these may also be offered to women but only on the understanding that they would share with other women. Prison-release women, with a local London connection, will be accommodated under CAS3. Through the Gate provision will include meeting her at the prison, escorting her to the accommodation and settling her in. Probation resettlement services will be provided.

Westminster Article 4 Direction

Sakina Sheikh: What is your assessment of the Government’s recent revision to Westminster’s Article 4 Direction? Do you believe this offers sufficient protection to the Central Activities Zone?
BEIS Select Committee, ‘Energy pricing and the future of the Energy Market,’ 26 July 2022↩︎

The Mayor: The Government's recent revision to Westminster's Article 4 Direction reduces the area covered by the Direction. As a result, much of Vauxhall Bridge Road, Horseferry Road, and parts of Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Mayfair, and Pimlico is now at risk of losing commercial floorspace to housing through permitted development.
The CAZ contains internationally important agglomerations of business and commercial uses that support the London and wider UK economy. Not only does each of these areas make a unique contribution to the character, diversity and economy of London, they also provide essential local services to existing residents, workers and visitors. The CAZ operates as a complex eco-system and carving out areas from the necessary protection therefore puts its overall functioning at risk. Of specific concern is the potential loss of more affordable employment space that supports start-ups and SMEs in the CAZ.
We do need, and are delivering, more homes within the CAZ, but these must be planned in a way that contributes towards, and does not harm, London's future prosperity and meets affordable housing and quality requirements.

ULEZ Expansion Scrappage Scheme

Caroline Pidgeon: How can you reasonably expect Londoners to submit a fully informed response to the ongoing ULEZ consultation given that details of the scrappage scheme have not been announced?

The Mayor: I have previously indicated that I am committed to helping Londoners, for example charities, small businesses, disabled people and Londoners on lower incomes, adapt to a potential London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone through the largest scrappage scheme feasible. This has also been made clear in the consultation materials.
The consultation survey contains a question about the importance of scrappage schemes and free text boxes to allow people to express their views. Transport for London will use feedback from the consultation, the findings from the Integrated Impact Assessment and stakeholder engagement to inform the development of a potential scrappage scheme to ensure it provides effective support to those who need it most. I welcome any further comments that could contribute to this.

Food Strategy Implementation Plan

Hina Bokhari: In response to question 2021/4645 in November 2021, you stated that ‘in the coming months we will publish an updated implementation plan for the food strategy’. What progress has been made in developing this implementation plan, and when will it be published?

The Mayor: Officers have been updating the implementation plan in the light of the rise of the cost-of-living crisis with various interventions designed to help the least well-off Londoners access affordable food. The aim is to publish this year though the current priority is to support Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis.

Extending Free Transport on TfL's Network

Susan Hall: Would you have a) announced, and b) been able to afford, your plan to extend the benefit of free travel on TfL’s network to the lowest paid workers, who aren’t employed by TfL in April 2023, without the recently agreed long-term funding deal for TfL?

The Mayor: London’s transport workers play an essential and much valued role in keeping the capital’s transport system safe and operating, this was particularly clear during the pandemic. Many of these people are the lowest paid Londoners but do an invaluable job.
With the unforeseen cost of living crisis hitting Londoners, I want to ease the pressure being faced by the lowest paid workers.
City Hall grant funding will cover any forgone fares income for Transport for London.

Gangs Recruiting and Manipulating Young Londoners

Caroline Pidgeon: Are you confident enough is being done to protect young Londoners from gangs who recruit them to assist with illegal activity and often lead to involvement in drug dealing and prostitution and what further work are you planning to tackle this issue?

The Mayor: Protecting young people from harm and exploitation sits at the heart of my Police and Crime Plan. We will continue to commission the most impactful services to support vulnerable young Londoner, working with partners to help us to understand and identify wider systemic issues.
I currently fund a number of different services that help protect young Londoners escape from gangs or protect them from being exploited by gangs. Since 2018 I have supported young Londoners up to the age of 25 exploited by county lines drugs networks through the Rescue and Response programme, where I have provided £7.5m of investment.
I also fund the London Gang Exit programme, which has provided specialist one-to-one mentoring support, and help for young Londoners with employment, training, housing, family and relationship support since 2016. The final impact evaluation, published on the London.gov website, shows the programme has a significant reduction on violent reoffending, as well as the demand for these services – with 430 Londoners receiving support from the programme between 2016 and 2022.
The VRU will continue to deliver against its current strategy which prioritises supporting young people in staying safe through prevention and early intervention. This includes programmes such as Divert, a police custody programme in all 12 BCU areas which seesspecially trained custody intervention coachesmeet young people following their arrest at what is known as a ‘teachable moment’, offering long-term support to young people away from violence and towards positive futures.
It is vital that the government recognises the impact that years of austerity has had and it must now do much more to show it shares my commitment to protecting young people from violence and harm.

Central London Bus Review (1)

Tony Devenish: Now that a long-term TfL funding deal is in place, will you scrap the plans outlined in your Central London Bus Review?

The Mayor: The consultation for the Central London Bus Review closed on 7 August. Transport for London (TfL) is currently reviewing all the responses to the consultation, as described in my answer to Mayor’s Question 2022/3185. When both that review and a new TfL business plan are complete, TfL will publish a consultation report and confirm whether any of the changes that are proposed will be implemented.
I have been frank with Londoners that this deal is far from ideal and still leaves TfL with a significant funding gap, which means some difficult decisions will still be needed.

Days of TfL Strike Action since May 2016

Emma Best: How many days of TfL strike action have occurred under your Mayoralty?

The Mayor: Since May 2016, 28,401 days have been lost to strike action. Days lost are calculated based on contractual shift allocation. If, due to strike action, employees do not book on for their allocated shift, one shift not worked is treated as one day lost to strike action.

Advertising and the Transport for London (TfL) Budget (3)

Len Duvall: Please provide a year-by-year and service-by-service breakdown of advertising income across TfL services from 2015 to the present day.

The Mayor: Please find the overall Commercial Media revenue figures for Transport for London (TfL) from 2015.
15/16 - £120.1m
16/17 - £142.1m
17/18 - £152.1m
18/19 - £156.0m
19/20 - £158.3m
20/21 - £50.0m
21/22 - £97.0m
TfL cannot provide a breakdown of advertising income per mode as it is contractually commercially sensitive.

Advertising and the Transport for London (TfL) Budget (1)

Len Duvall: What are the projections for advertising on TfL services in 2023/24?

The Mayor: In the Transport for London budget for 2022/23, Commercial Media revenue for 2023/24 was forecasted at £137.4m.

Advertising and the Transport for London (TfL) Budget (2)

Len Duvall: What changes have been seen in 2022/23 so far? Are they above expectations?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is working closely with its media partners to support the recovery of revenues following the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. In TfL’s budget for 2022/23 Commercial Media revenue was forecasted at £124.2m.
TfL’s year to date revenue is slightly higher than expected. This has been largely driven by increasing passenger numbers and increased confidence in the advertising market. Investment in new assets, both digital and traditional formats, including innovative new digital assets on the Elizabeth line, underlines TfL’s commitment to maximise revenue by providing brands with innovative advertising opportunities in spectacular new environments.

Imperial Wharf Station Northbound Entrance

Caroline Pidgeon: Following closures during the month of July, what active steps have you taken with TfL to ensure that the new northbound entrance and walkway at Imperial Wharf Station, which opened in June, remains open for commuters during peak hours to relieve congestion?

The Mayor: Arriva Rail London (ARL), which operates the London Overground for Transport for London (TfL), has committed to providing additional resource to allow the new entrance to operate as planned during the morning and afternoon peak. This commitment is being met, and there are no scheduled closures of the new entrance during the peak times.
ARL and TfL are discussing cost-effective solutions which would allow for longer opening in the future, if and when demand from customers warrants it.

ANPR

Susan Hall: How can the Met make greater use of ANPR data to detect and solve crimes?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is currently investigating tools to make better use of ANPR data. Combining ANPR data with other police data will improve the MPS’s ability to identify offenders, disrupt organised crime and bring offenders to justice.
The MPS is taking steps to gain access to additional ANPR cameras across London which will improve network coverage and create more opportunities for them to solve crime, prevent terrorism and safeguard vulnerable people. This will also assist the MPS in locating missing people and identifying those involved in exploiting the vulnerable, for example through county line drug trafficking.

Met Recruitment (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: How much money has the Met spent per year for 2020, 2021 and 2022 on advertising jobs within London?

The Mayor: Please refer to my response to 2022/2818.

Met Recruitment (1)

Caroline Pidgeon: How much money has the Met spent per year for 2020, 2021 and 2022 on advertising jobs outside London?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has provided the following information regarding spend on advertising roles both inside and outside London:
Police Officers
2020
Within Greater London: £1,476,801
2021
Within Greater London: £1,045,711
2022 (up until end of Sept)
Within Greater London: £2,774,808
Outside London: £1,426,000
N.B. The MPS did not advertise for police officer roles outside of London in 2020 and 2021.
Police staff (all advertising is conducted nationally).
2020 – c. £660,000
2021 – c. £861,000
2022 (Jan-Jul) – c. £724,000

Energy Resilience of Transport for London

Elly Baker: What contingencies and preparations does Transport for London have in the unlikely event of an issue with supply from the National Grid?

The Mayor: The London Power Supply Disruption Framework, which is available online here, provides the London Resilience Partnership (which includes Transport for London (TfL)) with a framework for responding to a widespread power cut within London and, in doing so, contributes to the overall resilience of the city. TfL maintains specific contingency plans should there be an issue with the supply or distribution of electrical supplies. These plans deal specifically with a complete failure of the national grid supply to London, or the loss of a bulk supply point.

Base Rate Rises and Transport for London

Len Duvall: As part of previous funding deals Transport for London borrowed £600 million from the Government. How will the rise in interest rates announced by the Bank of England last week alongside other current financial instability likely impact upon the costs of this loan?

The Mayor: The recent changes in Bank of England rate and market volatility have a limited impact on the short-term cost of Transport for London’s (TfL) borrowing.
The £600m was borrowed from the Public Works Loans Board and has since been managed in the context of TfL’s wider borrowing portfolio. TfL consider interest rate exposure on its entire debt stock, including this loan. Over 90 per cent of TfL’s debt is at a fixed rate of interest and therefore the cost does not immediately change as a result of higher Bank of England or market interest rates. If the fixed rate debt is refinanced at maturity, TfL will be exposed the difference between the interest rate on the maturing borrowing and the interest rate available to TfL at the time of refinancing.
For all borrowing that is not at a fixed rate, the interest payable fluctuates over time. However, these changes are broadly offset by the interest TfL receives on its cash balances, which also fluctuates over time. The amount of TfL’s variable rate debt is approximately equivalent to the level of its cash balances.

Santander Cycles

Len Duvall: Can you provide usage statistics for bike use in Lewisham and Greenwich for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022?

The Mayor: The Santander Cycles Scheme does not operate in Lewisham and Greenwich and therefore no statistical information is available. It is not possible to track where each bike goes, including whether these are ridden through Lewisham and Greenwich.

Transport for London (TfL) Borrowing and Financial Instability (2)

Len Duvall: Will the rise in interest rates impact upon the projects TfL is able to complete this year?

The Mayor: Given that Transport for London (TfL) do not expect changes in interest rates to have a material impact on its budget for this year (see response to questions 2022/3737 and 2022/3738), TfL do not expect rising interest rates to impact upon the projects it is able to complete this year.

Bus Cuts in Putney

Leonie Cooper: With the TfL deal done, what does this mean for the bus cuts in Putney?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/3574.

Bus Cuts

Len Duvall: Given the TfL deal is completed, what effect will this have on the bus cuts to Greenwich and Lewisham?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/3574.

Central London Bus Review (2)

Tony Devenish: Do you recognise that the changes laid out in your Central London Bus Review significantly increase the numbers of ‘broken links’, which would make it far harder for those travelling by bus to connect to other bus services?

The Mayor: The proposed changes aim to retain high frequency services on almost all corridors. In some cases, broken links would occur as described in the consultation documents and people would need to change buses. However, interchange in Central London, the area most affected by the proposed changes, is forecast to increase by just five percentage points as a result of the proposed changes.
Following its current review of the consultation responses, and any resulting changes, TfL will look to mitigate the impact by providing same stop interchange wherever possible.

Maps for onward journeys from stations on foot (2)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/2925. Could you tell me: a) the number of maps that have been made available, b) for which stations, and c) what funding you have contributed for these maps?

The Mayor: Every station on every rail-based mode within the London fare zones has a bespoke map available as part of its Continuing Your Journey poster:
London Underground has 263 designs
Docklands Light Railway has 47 designs
Elizabeth line has 32 designs
London Overground has 80 designs
National Rail has 216 designs.
Depending on the size and location of the station multiple copies of station bespoke maps may be on display.
Additionally Exit Guides are used where a station has multiple exits and choosing the wrong exit would significantly inconvenience customers. They are displayed at the 18 central London Underground stations listed below. As there is one guide per exit, the number of guides depends on the number of exits in each station.
Aldgate East
Chancery Lane
Elephant & Castle
Gants Hill
Green Park
Hyde Park
King’s Cross St Pancras
Knightsbridge
Leicester Square
London Bridge
Marble Arch
Moorgate
Notting Hill Gate
Oxford Circus
Piccadilly Circus
St Paul’s
Waterloo
Westminster.
They are also displayed at four Elizabeth line stations:
Canary Wharf
Farringdon
Liverpool Street
Tottenham Court Road.
Continuing Your Journey posters and Exit Guides are created from the Legible London basemap. They are funded indirectly through the maintenance of the Legible London basemap, and directly through business-as-usual customer information budgets for their production.

Priorities for next TfL Commissioner

Siân Berry: Given that the major challenge in London is reducing traffic and achieving carbon reductions are you going to be changing the person specification for the new commissioner for Transport for London (TfL) to reflect these priorities?

The Mayor: The recruitment process to find a new permanent Commissioner for Transport for London (TfL) will commence shortly as we begin a global search for suitable candidates.
The Commissioner is accountable for leading the planning and delivery of transport services for London, delivering the Mayor's Transport Strategy, contributing to London's economic growth post pandemic, creating jobs and improving the quality of life for everyone who lives, works and travels in London. As you would expect, as part of the recruitment process, we will be reviewing the job specification and other relevant details to ensure they are up to date for the current and future challenges and opportunities facing TfL and the capital.
In the interim, the role will be covered by Andy Lord who is TfL’s current Chief Operating Officer. Andy brings with him a wealth of experience and commitment to leading our city’s public transport network. His first priorities in his new role will be delivering a new TfL business plan, opening the final stages of the Elizabeth line and ensuring TfL is financially sustainable by April 2023.

Non-ULEZ Compliant Cars owned by Disabled Londoners (1)

Nick Rogers: What proportion of non-ULEZ compliant cars in Greater London are registered with the disabled or disabled passenger vehicle tax class?

The Mayor: The proportion of non-Ultra Low Emission Zone compliant cars in Greater London which are registered as disabled tax class (known as “class 78”) is 1.7 per cent (13,624 vehicles), using the latest DVLA data available from 2022.
The proportion for disabled passenger tax class vehicles is not possible to calculate as many of these are not cars, some are buses or light commercial vehicles. The number of non-compliant vehicles in this tax class (“class 85”) is 1,707.
For data protection purposes, this data from the DVLA does not include the full postcode, which means that boundaries are not exact, and the totals are indicative only.

Cost to install a bus stop

Siân Berry: What is the cost to install: a) a bus stop flag, b) a bus stop shelter, and c) a suitable kerb for accessible bus stop boarding?

The Mayor: The cost to replace each of these items is as follows:
a) a bus stop including flag is approximately £2,500;
b) a bus stop shelter is between £8,000 and £12,000, with the exact cost depending on size and design;
c) kerb changes are between £1,000 and £5,000 on the TfL Road Network (TLRN) and dependent on the scope of the work activity. Outside the TLRN, the accountable highway authority would be responsible for any changes.
Based on the location, there are also additional costs that could be incurred such as resurfacing, kerb re-alignments and public consultation.
For context, there are 21,500 bus stops and 14,000 bus shelters within the Greater London Authority (GLA) administrative area. Transport for London (TfL) maintains all the bus stops and 12,500 of the shelters in this area. The 1,500 shelters not owned by TfL, are mainly maintained by London Borough (LB) Croydon, LB Camden, and JC Decaux advertising. TfL are only responsible for kerb changes on their Highway Authority Road Network (TLRN). Outside the TLRN, it is the assigned Highways Authority (usually the borough) who lead on these changes. TfL are engaged stakeholders for requested changes to bus stop locations and modifications on borough highways.

Maps for onward journeys from stations on foot (3)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/2925. Could you tell me which stations have Legible London mapping totems, and how many totems each station has?

The Mayor: Not all Legible London signs are owned by Transport for London, some for example, are owned by Boroughs. As such, some of these street signs are located outside stations but are not necessarily directly linked to that station.
At present there is no up-to date data source from which it can be determined which stations have a sign within a given radius of their entrances. An audit is underway to rectify this situation and the results will be available in a few months’ time.

Bus stop guidance (2)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/1879. Given that guidance was last updated in 2017, will you now update it, and will you work with myself, relevant organisations and charities in the disability community to produce updated guidance?

The Mayor: Although there are no immediate plans to update the Accessible Bus Stop Guidance, Transport for London (TfL) regularly reviews its policies and design guidance to ensure they are inclusive and reflect the needs of its customers. TfL would welcome any immediate feedback you have and will, at the appropriate time, seek out views from relevant organisations to consider how these could be addressed in future updates to the guidance.

TfL Wi-Fi

Andrew Boff: Why doesn't the public TfL_Wi-Fi work?

The Mayor: Public Wi-Fi is available within London Underground and Elizabeth line stations. This service works very well with millions of connections every day.
Free on-train Wi-Fi is also available on the above ground sections of the Elizabeth line in the newer Class 710 London Overground trains. On-train Wi-Fi is not currently available in below ground sections of the Elizabeth line, however Transport for London is actively working to make this available as soon as possible through their concession with BAI Communications Ltd. This concession will also deliver 4G coverage throughout all London Underground tunnels and stations, including the Elizabeth line.

Rejected Adverts

Andrew Boff: Since your junk food advertising policy came into effect across the TfL network, how many adverts have been rejected each year due to your guidelines? Please specify what each rejected advert was for.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) introduced restrictions on foods and non-alcoholic drinks considered to be high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) in 2019. The HFSS restrictions use the Food Standards Agency’s Nutrient Profile Model to assess whether a specific food or non-alcoholic drink is considered HFSS. The model assesses a specific product based upon the nutritional content per 100g and is not based upon whether the product might be classified as ‘junk food’.
The below table covers adverts referred to TfL and rejected under HFSS restrictions stipulated within the TfL Advertising Policy:
Financial Year
Number of Adverts Rejected by TfL
2019/2020
44
2020/2021
38
2021/2022
20
TfL do not categorise its data by why the advert was rejected under the HFSS restrictions.

Fast Food Pictures

Andrew Boff: How many pictures of fast food have appeared on adverts across the TfL network since your junk food advertising policy came into effect?

The Mayor: Transport for London cannot provide this information. This is because there is no definition of ‘fast food’ or what would be included under this definition.
The high in fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) restrictions use the Food Standards Agency’s Nutrient Profile Model to determine whether a specific food or non-alcoholic drink is considered HFSS. The HFSS restrictions do not assess food and non-alcoholic drinks by category i.e. ‘fast food’.

Ministerial Cars

Susan Hall: Why has the Met Police decided to use Audi A8s instead of British-manufactured Jaguar XJs for ministerial cars?

The Mayor: All MPS contracts are subject to public procurement regulations, with considerations given to safety requirements as well as cost and vehicle availability.
For this tender specifically, at the time of tender, there was no UK Original Equipment Manufacturer able to meet the requirements of the tender, or producing a similar specification of vehicle, therefore no bid was made by any UK manufacture for the contract.

Grid Constraints and the Future of Electric Vehicles

Elly Baker: Following media reports that electricity shortages in West London could block the development of new homes, what work has been carried out by Transport for London with energy distributors to identify parts of the grid which need upgrades to be able to provide the energy required for the expected uptake in electric vehicles in the coming years?

The Mayor: I am concerned by issues relating to the availability of electricity capacity in West London, which are summarised in this document. My Infrastructure Coordination Service is working with the electricity networks and operators responsible, to explore potential solutions to this issue, which could impact all types of development including electric vehicle charging points. My officers have submitted details of potentially affected electric vehicle charging projects to SSEN for detailed analysis.
My ‘London’s 2030 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy’ (published in December 2021) sets out a commitment to support the electric vehicle industry by working with energy distributors to identify localised grid constraints so that distribution network operators can get government support to fund grid upgrades, particularly for rapid charging hub sites.
My Infrastructure Coordination Service is also leading delivery of subregional Local Area Energy Plans (LAEPs), beginning in West London in collaboration with the West London Alliance. LAEPs bring together energy networks, boroughs, and other stakeholders to develop strategies for decarbonisation and new growth that reflect the local energy systems and context. This will support effective deployment of electric vehicle infrastructure in west London, and I expect to expand the approach more widely to other parts of London.

Ethnic Diversity in GLA Procurement (2)

Hina Bokhari: What assessment have you made of the ethnic diversity of the GLA’s procurement supply chains?

The Mayor: I refer you to my previous answer to question number 2022/2858.
As part of the new procurement and supplier registration system being implemented, all suppliers are requested to state whether they are a majority Black, Asian or minority ethnic owned or led organisation. This has been included to allow for the future assessment of the GLA’s direct suppliers. Monitoring of this data will be periodically reviewed as part of the Responsible Procurement programme to ensure progress is being achieved as part of my commitment and ambition to increase supplier diversity throughout the GLA suppliers.
Specific contracts such as the Architecture and Urbanism Framework, and Functional bodies of the GLA group such as Transport for London, also require workforce diversity reporting requirements for their suppliers in reflection of my policy drivers, such as Responsible Procurement and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

Noise Reduction around Harrow-on-the-Hill

Krupesh Hirani: Residents suffering from noise generated around Harrow-on-the-Hill have had to wait years for the installation of an acoustic fence. I welcome news that the fence has been procured, but how much longer will residents have to wait until a specialist contractor can be found to install the fencing?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) and I are keen that this issue is resolved as soon as possible and are committed to reducing noise across the network for our neighbours, staff and passengers.
TfL is in the process of starting a tender process to identify a specialist contractor to install the barrier (the materials for which have been procured). It expects to issue this tender in the coming weeks and will update your office once this has taken place.

Extending Free Travel on TfL’s Network (2)

Susan Hall: Please can you clarify if workers will receive nominee passes or free travel for family or household members in the same way as TfL employees do? If so, please provide a breakdown of who, other than the worker, is eligible.

The Mayor: The proposed free travel concession would only be given to the lowest paid direct employees of certain Transport for London suppliers.
Those eligible would not qualify for nominee passes.

Extending Free Travel on TfL’s Network (1)

Susan Hall: You recently announced that you plan to extend the benefit of free travel on TfL’s network to the lowest paid workers, who aren’t employed by TfL in April 2023. How many workers will be eligible for this perk and how will it be administered?

The Mayor: It is proposed that the free travel concession will be given to the lowest paid employees of certain Transport for London (TfL) suppliers. It is estimated that around 5,000 employees would be eligible. TfL is working through the detail of how the concession will be administered.

World Car Free Day 2022

Hina Bokhari: Will London take part in Car Free Day this year? If not, what will you do instead to mark this important day with reference to your answer to question 2022/1432?

The Mayor: As stated in MQ 2022/1432, I remain committed to reducing car use and encouraging more people to walk, cycle and use public transport.
Delivering a large-scale car free day event that includes road closures takes many months to plan and involves consultation with local stakeholders including boroughs, businesses and residents.Due to the ongoing discussions with Government about long-term funding for Transport for London (TfL) I have been unable to allocate funds and resources to Car Free Day 2022.
To raise awareness of Car Free Day 2022 I asked my walking and Cycling Commissioner to promote events that were happening across the city and attend Brompton’s ‘vision for the future’ event, which transformed a petrol station into a green transport hub. Events like this are important in helping people to envisage a more people-friendly city and think about using more sustainable modes of transport.

Graffiti Hotspots

Caroline Pidgeon: Will you consider planting trees to deter taggers from vandalising TfL-owned property, similar to Network Rail’s scheme and as referenced in RailUK in July (https://railuk.com/general-interest/network-rail-uses-trees-to-tackle-graffiti-hotspot-in-south-london/)?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) like other London authorities has a significant graffiti vandalism problem across a large section of its asset base. The problem is most acute on TfL’s rail network, highway structures and bus shelters. This issue has been consistent for many years with a notable spike during the COVID pandemic period.
In some circumstances the tree and shrub planting approach can be effective. However, because plants require regular maintenance and do not stop growing, it can cause other maintenance issues for some of TfL’s assets. Graffiti prevention measures chosen for any specific location are based on several factors including: the type of damage, cleaning regimes, and the cost and maintenance of intervention.
TfL recently changed its approach to reactive cleaning across its highway structures and now provide a 28-day removal service based on significant borough and customer feedback. In some prolific locations TfL has begun trialling the use of hedges and plans to use trees where appropriate. TfL continues to use anti-graffiti prevention paint in many locations and also plans to trial a wooden slatting approach on appropriate surfaces.

Hammersmith Bridge

Caroline Pidgeon: What plans do you have to try to resolve the ongoing situation with the closure of Hammersmith Bridge with the new Secretary of State for Transport? When do you plan to meet to discuss this important matter?

The Mayor: The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), Transport for London (TfL) and Department for Transport (DfT) officials meet on a regular basis to progress plans to resolve the ongoing situation at Hammersmith Bridge.
Hammersmith Bridge remains open to pedestrians and cyclists and LBHF, as the bridge owner, has already commenced works to stabilise the structure. TfL provided just under £3m in funding (1/3 of LBHF’s estimated costs) towards the work earlier this year, with the DfT making an equivalent funding contribution and LBHF responsible for the remaining costs. LBHF expects work to complete later this year, and this will ensure the continued safety of the structure and that it remains open to pedestrians and cyclists for the foreseeable future.
Further strengthening work is required to fully reopen the bridge. Plans for this work remain under development, and the latest TfL “Long-term Funding Settlement” letter sets out the proposed next steps between the parties. In summary, LBHF is developing a design and business case for the works, which it will submit to TfL and the DfT once complete. TfL officers continue to support LBHF where required in developing this work. Subject to approval of the business case, funding would be released by DfT and TfL to support LBHF in progressing the works. The funding settlement letter is available to view here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101713/tfl-long-term-funding-settlement-30-august-2022.pdf

Motor-Tricycle ULEZ Exemption

Tony Devenish: A constituent of mine applied to TfL for a Congestion Charge exemption for his motor-tricycle and was refused on the grounds that the vehicle was too long and too wide. Given motorbikes and mopeds are exempted from paying the Congestion Charge, why is such a similar vehicle not exempt?

The Mayor: Since the Congestion Charge was introduced in 2003 motorcycles have been exempt due to their limited impact on traffic flow. All motor tricycles were initially liable for the charge because of their greater size and role in adding to congestion. Following engagement with stakeholders and a full public consultation, Transport for London (TfL) introduced a 100 per cent discount for some motor tricycles that fell below a particular size limit.
The rules have been in place ever since then and are made clear on TfL’s website. New makes and models come on the market from time to time that can create anomalies with the rules. TfL regularly reviews its schemes to ensure they are fair and are still effective in achieving their objectives, such as reducing congestion. If it became clear there was a significant issue, TfL would look at the effectiveness of the rules.
If you would like to send more information about this particular case via my office, I am happy to ask TfL to look in further detail and discuss the matter with you directly.

ULEZ Extension Scrappage Scheme

Caroline Pidgeon: Given that the ULEZ expansion in October 2021 covered around the same number of homes as proposed in the potential extension in August 2023, and provision of public transport options is more scarce in some parts of outer London, do you accept that £60 million is only a baseline figure for a new scrappage scheme and may have to exceed that number in order to provide help to Londoners?

The Mayor: Should I decide to progress with the proposals for a London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) following the public consultation, I am committed to implementing a large-scale and targeted vehicle scrappage scheme.
The government should be funding scrappage for London like it has for cities around the UK, and as I have been calling on them to do for some time. I am hopeful that they will do so, but if they do not, I will then look at how to provide the biggest scrappage scheme feasible in those circumstances. Last time I provided £61 million which funded the scrappage of over 15,200 dirty vehicles.
Improving public transport in outer London is central to my Transport Strategy and to enabling people to travel more sustainably. More than 96 per cent of Londoners live within 400m of the bus network, the London Overground network has expanded including a new station at Barking Riverside, and the Elizabeth Line will transform public transport connectivity directly and through new interchanges along its length.

Owami Davies (2)

Unmesh Desai: Does the Owami Davies case demonstrate that there is a need to review how police forces in and around London work with and interact with the MPS?

The Mayor: There are a number of opportunities for learning from this case. A review has been conducted into this case and there were some important learning points, including how a missing person enquiry is transferred from one force to another to ensure work isn't duplicated and any urgent enquiries are carried out as swiftly as possible.
Please see the full report here: Review into the Owami Davies missing person investigation is complete | Metropolitan Police

ULEZ (1)

Onkar Sahota: A constituent asks why the scrappage scheme is not available for people like him, who are not the poorest, but receive an average income for Londoners.

The Mayor: As indicated, if I take forward the proposals for a London-wide ULEZ following public consultation I intend to support this with the largest scrappage scheme feasible. Details including the value of the fund and who can apply for it will be informed by the Integrated Impact Assessment, stakeholder engagement and responses to the consultation. It is important to me that any scrappage scheme is targeted at those who need it most, to make the most of the funding pot.
The number of Londoners I can help depends on available funding. In London we are using our own resources to do a job that should be led by Government through a targeted national scrappage scheme. Government is funding scrappage schemes in cities outside of London, however they have refused to provide funding for similar schemes in the capital.

Clipper usage

Len Duvall: How many commuters have used the Clipper service this year and what is the difference from pre-Covid levels? Can you provide figures for users going on board broken down by each of the piers in Greenwich?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) collects 4-weekly periodic passenger data over a financial year from April to March each year.
River Bus volumes are reported by period according to the TfL Accounting calendar. The final volumes are received in summary from Thames Clippers by these periods. Therefore, we do not have daily numbers.
For 2022, between 9 January and 17 September, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers carried 3.37 million passengers. This is slightly higher than the equivalent period in 2019, when 3.13 million passengers were carried.
The only TfL-owned pier in Greenwich is Greenwich Pier and, as such, TfL only holds data for this pier. For the same period in 2022 Uber Boat by Thames Clippers carried 443,000 passengers to and from Greenwich pier, an increase of 435,000 in 2019.
TfL does not hold any information relating to the purpose of a journey and so cannot provide figures on commuter usage of piers or services.

Average sick rate for TfL staff

Susan Hall: For each financial year from 2016/17 to 2021/22, what was the average sick rate for all TfL staff?

The Mayor: The average sickness absence for all Transport for London (TfL) employees is provided in the below table for the years requested.
The safety, health and wellbeing of TfL’s customers and colleagues is its number one priority. Throughout the pandemic TfL has followed all applicable government guidance around self-isolation. The below figures reflect and include colleagues who tested positive for Covid and were unable to work for the respective isolation period.
Year
Sickness Absence Rate
2016/17
4.3 per cent
2017/18
4.5 per cent
2018/19
4.7 per cent
2019/20
5.2 per cent
2020/21
4.9 per cent
2021/22
6.8 per cent

Energy and carbon reporting for TfL

Siân Berry: The Transport for London (TfL) draft statement for accounts for 2021-22 includes a summary of streamlined energy and carbon reporting for the whole of TfL. Could you supply a table of this data for each year since 2000?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) holds sufficient data to respond to this request from 2005/06 onward.
The below table provides data on TfL’s directly procured electricity and gas consumption, as required by the UK Government’s Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting regulations, and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with these.
The table also includes greenhouse gas emissions data for all TfL public transport services. This includes emissions from both energy directly procured by TfL, and services such as Buses and London Overground where energy is primarily purchased by service operators.
Electricity consumption (GWh)
Gas consumption (GWh)
CO2 emissions from directly procured energy (ktonnes CO2e)
Total CO2 emissions from TfL services (ktonnes CO2e)
2003-04
1,115
73
538
0
2004-05
1,172
105
557
0
2005-06
1,186
103
589
1,310
2006-07
1,172
90
581
1,300
2007-08
1,286
84
622
1,382
2008-09
1,315
79
680
1,466
2009-10
1,330
77
690
1,445
2010-11
1,359
97
694
1,437
2011-12
1,415
77
672
1,442
2012-13
1,429
87
692
1,546
2013-14
1,458
86
682
1,562
2014-15
1,524
74
785
1,616
2015-16
1,560
68
757
1,541
2016-17
1,562
69
680
1,427
2017-18
1,543
70
578
1,306
2018-19
1,505
69
462
1,146
2019-20
1,487
71
413
1,040
2020-21
1,465
68
358
862
2021-22
1,547
80
347
832

Initial payment amount for the Silvertown Road Tunnel contract

Siân Berry: The draft Transport for London (TfL) Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022 state, as in the notes to these statements in previous years, that the PFI payments to Riverlinx Limited for the Silvertown Road Tunnel will commence upon opening in 2025 at £65 million per year. The Project Agreement schedule 20, which covers payments, is completely redacted (https://content.tfl.gov.uk/silvertown-tunnel-schedule-20-payment-mechani...), but could you confirm that this initial payment is set at this cash amount and not index linked from the date of signing the agreement in 2019?

The Mayor: Riverlinx is currently funding the costs of designing and constructing the Silvertown Tunnel through private finance and, once the tunnel is ready to open to the public in line with Transport for London’s (TfL) defined requirements, it will be repaid those costs through “Availability Payments” (APs). APs are dependent on Riverlinx performance and are partly index linked; this is why I have been clear that the total amount to be paid to Riverlinx is not fixed.
TfL’s forecasts of the costs of APs starting in 2025 include appropriate assumptions on future inflation, and so any reported figures will include TfL’s estimate of inflation at the time of reporting. Current trends with inflation, however, mean previously reported figures are likely to increase.
While the contract schedule covering the Payment Mechanism is commercially and operationally sensitive, I would be happy to ask TfL to talk through the principles with you further. In broad terms, part of the payments are linked to the Retail Price Index at a particular point each year, alongside other adjustments, and the payments are subject to Riverlinx performance against areas such as:
For the avoidance of doubt, the Availability Payments are not linked to traffic levels.

Budgets and Employee costs for CMT, Mayor’s Office and London Assembly

Len Duvall: Please provide a year by year breakdown for the financial years 2015/16 to 2022/23 showing employee expenses, revenue budget and percentage of employee costs for each of the Corporate Management Team, Mayor's Office and London Assembly.

The Mayor: Please see below breakdown of budget and also employee costs - as an absolute and as a proportion of budget – for each of the CMT, the Mayor’s Office and the London Assembly for each financial year 2015-16 to 2022-23.
Financial Year
Directorate
Employee Costs
Budget
Employee Costs as % of Budget
2015-16
Corporate Management Team
235,000
315,000
75
2015-16
Mayor's Office
3,494,000
4,170,000
84
2015-16
London Assembly
5,959,000
7,178,000
83
2016-17
Corporate Management Team
239,000
310,000
77
2016-17
Mayor's Office
3,806,000
4,220,000
90
2016-17
London Assembly
5,638,000
7,213,000
78
2017-18
Corporate Management Team
246,000
313,000
79
2017-18
Mayor's Office
4,786,000
5,284,000
91
2017-18
London Assembly
6,102,000
7,413,000
82
2018-19
Corporate Management Team
346,000
329,000
105
2018-19
Mayor's Office
5,683,000
5,981,000
95
2018-19
London Assembly
6,177,000
7,800,000
79
2019-20
Corporate Management Team
365,000
494,000
74
2019-20
Mayor's Office
5,828,000
5,974,000
98
2019-20
London Assembly
5,919,000
8,000,000
74
2020-21
Corporate Management Team
396,000
594,000
67
2020-21
Mayor's Office
5,713,000
4,891,000
117
2020-21
London Assembly
5,776,000
8,415,000
69
2021-22
Corporate Management Team
763,000
896,000
85
2021-22
Mayor's Office
4,745,000
4,932,000
96
2021-22
London Assembly
5,237,000
8,000,000
65
2022-23 as at P7
Corporate Management Team
417,000
989,000
42
2022-23 as at P7
Mayor's Office
2,652,000
5,203,000
51
2022-23 as at P7
London Assembly
2,931,000
8,116,000
36

Social infrastructure in planning (2)

Siân Berry: The April 2022 report, Community Recovery Plan, from Just Space, suggests that ‘care hubs’ should be created on high streets, and that these should be considered: “part of social infrastructure, acting as a place for unpaid carers and residential care workers to go to for support.” Have you read and considered Just Space’s recommendations for use within your planning policies, and how do you plan to integrate ideas such as these within your vision for social infrastructure?

The Mayor: As per my response to MQ 2022/2921, social infrastructure is a vital component in good growth and includes both facilities and services that serve to make communities more resilient. My officers have reviewed the report and consider that my London Plan includes polices that support boroughs to provide social infrastructure in partnership with relevant organisations such as the NHS, local authorities, voluntary and community organisations and other community groups. This includes support for the co-location of social and community facilities such as community healthcare hubs on public land (including schools and the NHS estate) as well as those that secure the provision of affordable workspace.

Small and micro business procurement

Zack Polanski: What progress has been made to boost GLA procurement from micro and small businesses? Could you provide data on the success of micro and small businesses winning GLA contracts?

The Mayor: As part of the my Responsible Procurement Policy, the supporting Implementation Plan and the GLA’s role in the London Anchors Institution Network, we have and continue to implement a number of actions to improve the GLA’s procurement from Micro, Small and Medium sized companies.
This includes:
We do not currently segment suppliers as ‘micro’ or ‘small’ businesses, but we do collect data on our spend with suppliers registered as SMEs. Our new procurement and supplier registration system will enable further segmentation.
In 2021/22 the GLA spent £16.8m directly with SMEs, 9.1 per cent of the total procurement spend, across 180 SMEs (13.4 per cent of all GLA suppliers for this period).

Procurement diversity

Zack Polanski: Your Architecture Design and Urbanism Panel places five per cent of its evaluation criteria on equality, diversity and inclusion. You describe it on the GLA website as a way to: “influence the diversity of the profession through procurement.” How are you encouraging diversity in procurement across the GLA Group?

The Mayor: Improving supply chain diversity and embedding fair and inclusive employment practices are key themes within my Responsible Procurement policy and Implementation Plan and are supported by the GLA’s role in the London Anchors Institution Network. We are implementing a number of actions to encourage diversity in procurement and ensure the workforce within the GLA Group and our supply chain is reflective of London’s diversity.
My Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy commits the GLA Group to ‘lead by example’, to ensure that our procurement, commissioning and investment processes are accessible and inclusive to support community-led regeneration, and to encourage supplier diversity. This includes, but is not limited to, businesses led by women; Black, Asian and minority ethnic people; and disabled people. This is reflected in my Architecture and Urbanism Framework, which developed and embedded a Supplier Diversity Action Plan into the procurement strategy, that includes targeted engagement, reduction in procurement barriers, and supplier readiness support for underrepresented groups.
We promote best practice and good work opportunities in our supply chain through my Good Work Standard, which sets benchmarks for fair pay and contracts, and progression, diversity and recruitment. We also promote the Inclusive Employers’ Toolkit to suppliers where relevant for employers to develop their own diversity and inclusion policies; produce strategies for recruitment and retention of under-represented groups; take swift action in response claims of racism or discrimination and provide clear pathways to promotion for under-represented groups. As part of the ‘Supporting Diversity’ pillar of my Good Growth by Design programme and the ambition to work towards a more representative built environment sector we are currently developing a Practice Mentoring Programme to equip emerging micro practices, led by people from groups currently underrepresented in the built environment sector, with the tools and networks needed to succeed in securing public sector projects.

Average sick rate for TfL train drivers

Susan Hall: For each financial year from 2016/17 to 2021/22, what was the average sick rate for TfL train drivers?

The Mayor: The average sickness absence rate for London Underground train operators at Transport for London (TfL) is provided in the below table for the years requested.
The safety, health and wellbeing of TfL’s customers and colleagues is its number one priority and TfL followed government guidance requiring those who tested positive for Covid to shield or self-isolate resulting in them being absent from work for the respective isolation period, when this guidance applied during the course of the pandemic.
Year
Sickness Absence Rate
2016/17
6.7 per cent
2017/18
6.9 per cent
2018/19
6.8 per cent
2019/20
7.8 per cent
2020/21
9.1 per cent
2021/22
11.9 per cent

Hammersmith Bridge

Tony Devenish: Now that a long-term TfL funding deal is in place, please will you outline a timetable for the full reopening of Hammersmith Bridge?

The Mayor: The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), as the bridge owner, is responsible for developing a timetable for the full reopening of Hammersmith Bridge. I continue to offer my support, and Transport for London officers regularly engage with LBHF and the Department for Transport to ensure that works are progressed as quickly as possible. My response to Mayor’s Question 2022/2801 explains the ongoing work in further detail.

London's night-time economy (17)

Neil Garratt: How many Section 106 agreements have included funds for cultural infrastructure?

The Mayor: My London Plan is clear about the importance of cultural infrastructure and the need to protect and enhance it including through the identification of Creative Enterprise Zones and the delivery of suitable affordable workspace for the creative industries and my officers work to ensure this is reflected in proposed developments through the planning process e.g. by securing provisions in s106 agreements. In the vast majority of cases it is the boroughs as Local Planning Authorities (LPA’s) who are the signatories to s106 agreements and will hold these records, rather than the GLA.
When I have called in a planning application, becoming the LPA, I have, with the support of my officers, always sought enhancements to schemes. On a number of called in schemes this has included enhancements to cultural infrastructure on or around sites. A recent example is the development of Vinegar Yard where I resolved to grant planning permission at a hearing on 27 May 2022. This development included a new medical space for Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital or an alternative medical/life science use along with a significant amount of affordable workspace and a new community space. Importantly, a significant proportion of the affordable workspace, as secured in the s106 agreement, is to be allocated to Southwark Studios at a deep discount rate (70% of local market rent). Southwark Studios are a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society specialising in creating and operating workspaces for local artists and SMEs in the creative industries. My GLA officers worked closely with Southwark Studios throughout the planning process and they are strongly supportive of the development.
I also give the protection of existing cultural infrastructure across London the utmost importance and one example of this includes my direction to the City of London to refuse planning permission for the Tulip to ensure the continued protection of the Tower of London as an important historic cultural site.

Cost of Replacing a Car for Disabled Londoners

Nick Rogers: Do you acknowledge that the cost of replacing an ULEZ non-compliant car is disproportionately higher for disabled people than for non-disabled people and what steps will you take to ensure disabled Londoners will not have to face an unsurmountable amount of extra costs to scrap their own car if ULEZ were expanded to Greater London?

The Mayor: Many disabled people who use adapted vehicles will be eligible to register their vehicle under the disabled or disabled passenger tax class. Non-compliant vehicles registered under this tax class are currently exempt from paying the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charge until 26 October 2025. I recognise that expanding the ULEZ to outer London will impact greater numbers of older and disabled people, which is why I have proposed extending the grace period for disabled tax class vehicles and wheelchair accessible private hire vehicles to 24 October 2027.
Should I decide to go ahead with the expansion, I have committed to having the biggest scrappage scheme feasible. This could be targeted to help disabled Londoners as well as others, including Londoners on lower incomes, small businesses and charities prepare for the scheme.
As part of the development of the scrappage scheme, Transport for London is looking at how the scheme can best support those with adapted vehicles to mitigate the higher costs associated with these vehicles.

Limits of NHS Reimbursement Scheme

Nick Rogers: Do you recognise the limits of the NHS Reimbursement Scheme (for the Congestion Charge and ULEZ)? If so, what actions will you take to ensure that disabled people will be able to attend GP appointments without experiencing financial hardship and what measures will you propose to prevent them from suffering poor health outcomes?

The Mayor: I recognise that some NHS patients may have a greater need to travel to hospital appointments by car where they have been clinically assessed as being too ill, weak or disabled to use public transport. This is why both the Congestion Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) have reimbursement arrangements for such patients.
In addition, disabled people with a disabled tax class registered vehicle are exempt from the Congestion Charge and subject to a grace period for the ULEZ, during which they do not pay the charge until 26 October 2025 (with a proposed extension until the 24 October 2027 if the ULEZ is expanded London-wide).
I recognise that disabled people may need additional support to upgrade their vehicle to be ULEZ compliant, which is why I previously offered a £61 million scrappage scheme supporting low-income and disabled Londoners, small businesses and charities to scrap over 15,200 older, more polluting vehicles.
If the ULEZ is expanded further, I am committed to a large-scale and targeted vehicle scrappage scheme which could support disabled Londoners, amongst others.
Transport for London are continuing to engage with the NHS to improve patient awareness and access to the reimbursement scheme. They are also directly engaging with representative groups for disabled people.

Police Officer Injuries

Krupesh Hirani: Please provide a breakdown of how many police officers have needed hospital treatment after being injured in the line of duty over the last three years.

The Mayor: Prior to November 2020 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) did not record (in a retrievable format) the level of medical aid given to officers that had been assaulted. With the advent of a new IT platform, it is now possible to provide this data.
Since November 2020, of the 9,438 officer assaulted reports received, 898 are recorded as requiring hospital treatment. This will not be the complete number who required hospital treatment as there will be some cases where hospital treatment may be deemed necessary after the report has been completed, and it is not possible to amend the report.

London Underground Pay (2)

Peter Fortune: Can you provide the average pay bands for London Underground ticket office staff?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does not employee any London Underground ticket office staff. Ticket offices were closed in 2015 as part of a review of how stations operated and how TfL could better serve its customers in light of the changing way customers paid for travel.
As part of this change, TfL ensured that staff were more visible and available for passengers so that passengers are able to find help and assistance when needed and upgraded ticket machines to ensure passengers are able to buy the right ticket and get refunds when they need them.

Travel Costs of Agency-supplied Bus Workers

Nick Rogers: Does your recent decision to extend free travel on the TfL network to agency-supplied cleaners and security personnel working for TfL also extend to agency-supplied bus drivers working for TfL’s bus contractors?

The Mayor: Please see my answer to MQ3638.

Sports Advertising on TfL Network

Emma Best: Please can you provide a breakdown of all sports events which were/are being advertised on TfL’s network since 2016? Please also provide a breakdown of where the event was held and the value and length of the advertisement contract.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) cannot provide the specific information requested because TfL’s media partners do not record advertising for sporting events as a specific category. Advertising booked by the organiser/venue for a sporting event will generally be classified under the Entertainment and Leisure category. However, if an advert is placed by a sponsor of a sporting event and the advert also features their branding and products/services the advert may be classified differently. The number of advertising campaigns that have run in the Entertainment & Leisure category can be found in TfL’s Annual Advertising Reports.
TfL’s media partners do not hold images of adverts dating back to 2016.

Forced Marriages

Susan Hall: How many cases of forced marriage have there been in London for each year since 2016?

The Mayor: Flagging heavily relies on officers having knowledge and applying the flag to each potential case.
164
172
148
151
185
152
2022 (to 10 September)
113